Weird News

'Dead' woman rises during her wake

A 'dead' woman woke up in her coffin during her own wake.

Bella Montoya, 76, was declared dead at a hospital in Ecuador last Friday, but stunned her relatives when she started knocking on her coffin a few hours later.

The retired nurse's family had been told that she had passed away after suffering cardiorespiratory arrest. But it turned out that it had caused her to suffer catalepsy, which is a trance-like condition that was mistaken as death by doctors.

Montoya is now being observed at the same hospital and a government investigation into the incident will take place.

Her son Gilberto Barbera said: "It gave us all a fright.

"There were about 20 of us there. After about five hours of the wake, the coffin started to make sounds. My mom was wrapped in sheets and hitting the coffin, and when we approached we could see that she was breathing heavily."

Light drinking might help the heart

Light drinking can reduce the risk of a heart attack.

A new study suggests that a daily alcoholic tipple lowers stress levels in the brain and therefore slashes the prospect of cardiovascular events.

Experts from Massachusetts General Hospital in the US discovered that the part of the brain that responds to threats -- the amygdala -- displays fewer stress signals in those who drink in moderation compared to teetotallers.

Alcohol is known to reduce the amygdala's reactions to possible threats while drinking, but the research is the first to suggest booze has long-term effects on heart health.

Cardiologist Ahmed Tawakol, who led the study, said: "When the amygdala is too alert and vigilant, the sympathetic nervous system is heightened, which drives up blood pressure and increases heart rate.

"If the stress is chronic, the result is hypertension, increased inflammation, and a substantial risk of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease."

28-year-old accused of posing as teen

(AP): A 28-year-old woman who enrolled at a Louisiana high school and posed as a 17-year-old student has been arrested along with her mother, authorities said.

Martha Jessenia Gutierrez Serrano and her mother, Marta Elizabeth Serrano Alvarado, 46, both of Boutte, were arrested on Tuesday, the St Charles Parish Sheriff's Office said in a news release. Each are charged with a one count of injuring public record.

Serrano-Alvarado used a fake passport and birth certificate to register and enrol her daughter at Hahnville High School for the 2022-2023 school year, the sheriff's office said. The authorities did not provide details about why she did so or whether the authorities suspect anything inappropriate occurred during Gutierrez-Serrano's time at the school.

Four days after the school year ended on May 25, an internal investigation began after the St Charles Parish School System received a tip that a female student at Hahnville High School, who was believed to be 17, may actually have been in her mid-20s, the sheriff's office said.