A funeral in Guatemala reportedly turned into a moment of shock and celebration after a 15-year-old girl, identified as Yuleidy Ixcotoyac, began moving inside her coffin before eventually sitting upright.

According to reports, the teenager’s family believed she had d!ed after she collapsed, prompting them to begin preparations for her burial.

However, her mother, Lesvia Ríos, reportedly noticed signs of movement while mourning beside the coffin at their family home in El Jocote, a rural village in Guatemala.

Ríos said she became suspicious when she noticed movement inside the coffin and alerted other family members that her daughter might still be alive.

“I kept saying she was alive; she wasn’t d3ad,” she told local media.

Recounting the moment, she said:

“When I was crying on top of her casket, we opened the window and she was moving, she was waking up and suddenly she sat up.”

Footage circulating on social media reportedly shows Yuleidy, dressed in a pink T-shirt, moving before sitting upright. Relatives subsequently helped her out of the coffin and gave her water, while other mourners reacted with shouts of “hallelujah”.

Yuleidy’s father, Abraham Ixcotoyac, an evangelical pastor, reportedly believed his daughter had d!ed after she collapsed while he was taking her to a medical centre.

He said he stopped the vehicle to check her condition but could not detect a pulse or signs of breathing.

“I saw that she was no longer breathing and I couldn’t feel her pulse on her wrists. It was a very difficult situation for me. She did not go to hospital,” he reportedly told local media, according to The Sun.

The family subsequently proceeded with funeral arrangements without a doctor certifying her d3ath or an official d3ath certificate being issued.

According to reports, the teenager regained consciousness during the wake, approximately eight hours after she collapsed.

Yuleidy reportedly described experiencing intense chest pain before losing consciousness.

“My heart started hurting really badly, it felt heavy and then I blacked out, like I fainted,” she said.

The teenager is reportedly conscious and recovering at home. She also expressed gratitude to God for surviving the incident.

The extraordinary account has raised questions about the importance of medical confirmation before a d3ath is declared and funeral arrangements begin. A person who collapses and appears unresponsive requires urgent medical assessment, as the absence of an easily detectable pulse or visible breathing does not on its own establish that d3ath has occurred.