S'pore woman falls ill, can't get treated, slips into coma & dies on holiday in Germany with husband

The husband alleged that his wife was denied treatment at many turns.

Belmont Lay | March 04, 2022, 04:53 PM

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A woman from Singapore who was on holiday in Europe with her husband, suddenly felt ill, allegedly could not get treatment at hospitals there, fell into a coma and died.

The tragedy was reported by Shin Min Daily News on March 3, 2022.

The deceased, named Ma Qingqing, 42, was a financial advisor.

She passed away on Feb. 19 in Frankfurt, Germany.

What happened

The late Ma and her husband had spent more than S$6,000 to book a holiday with a tour group to Europe for 11 days in October 2021 some two years after the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

The woman, according to her husband, felt unwell after getting off the plane in Europe and slipped into a coma on the seventh day of the holiday.

The deceased worked in a bank previously.

Her husband Zhang, 44, also works in a bank.

The itinerary of the holiday included travelling to the Netherlands, Germany and France.

They embarked on their European holiday on Feb. 12.

Felt unwell in the Netherlands

The husband told Shin Min his wife felt unwell with a headache and sore throat as soon as she got off the plane after a 12-hour flight to Amsterdam, which was their first stop.

He said: "My wife took painkillers that day, and the next day she also had ART and the result was negative."

"She felt that it might just be because she had not been flying for a long time, and her body was not used to it."

"At that time, her condition was mild, and we went on a tour as usual, and went to several attractions."

Felt better after a few days

On the third day of the trip, her cold symptoms improved, but she unexpectedly had sudden pain in her lower abdomen.

The tour guide took her to the first aid facility of the hotel.

After measuring her blood pressure, everything was assumed to be normal.

The medical staff then gave her painkillers and told her to seek medical attention if she still felt pain.

She apparently felt better after taking the medicine, so she continued her journey to Germany.

Sought medical treatment in Germany

Upon arriving in Germany, the woman went to hospitals in two cities for medical examinations, but could not find the cause.

Her lower abdomen became more painful.

She was finally sent to the hospital in Frankfurt on Feb. 18.

The husband said he was unable to accompany his wife in the hospital due to the pandemic measures in place, and the doctor had suspected a bladder infection as the cause, but the report came out showing all was normal.

Sent to ICU

The husband said his wife was then transferred to the intensive care unit two hours after she contacted him.

The doctor could not give a definitive answer as to the cause of her condition and said there was no results as it was in the middle of the night.

Passed away shortly after

His wife passed away the next morning.

The husband told Shin Min: "After I arrived at the hospital, my wife was in a dying state and finally passed away at 8:48am on Feb. 19. She was fine, so why did this happen?"

More allegations

Additional information regarding what the deceased woman allegedly experienced while trying to seek treatment in Europe was put up in the Facebook post put up by Shin Min.

In it, the husband claimed his wife was denied treatment options at almost every turn.

The allegations, made by the husband, were that his wife had sought medical treatment at least six times in the Netherlands and Germany.

These instances included seeking help at the hotel first aid facility, local clinics, major hospitals, and even the medical department of the airline.

He said not only was the cause of his late wife's ailment not found each time, the relevant institutions even delayed arranging for her to be admitted to the hospital, which allegedly caused her to miss the golden period of receiving prompt treatment that could have saved her.

Improper send-off

The husband also said his wife's body was transported to Singapore more than 10 days after she had passed away, and that the release of the autopsy report would apparently have to wait for another month or so.

The cause of death is still unknown.

He also alleged that he spent about $6,200 euros (S$9,283) to find a local mortician to deal with the funeral in Europe, and to obtain an embalming certificate from the authorities.

However, after his wife's body was sent to Singapore, the local mortician there found that the body was not embalmed at all after it flew out of Germany.

[Edit note: The information in this last portion has been edited from "China" to "Singapore".]

Top photos via Shin Min Daily News

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