The family of a Malaysian man who died in a Dubai hospital early last month is still unable to hold funeral services for him as they can only bring home the body if they settle some RM150,000 in medical bills.
Penang-born Thangaratnam Thyagarajah, 53, was in the Middle East for eight months looking for business opportunities, but was diagnosed with meningitis in January.
He was later put into an induced coma at the Rashid Hospital in Dubai. He was declared brain-dead, and died on Feb 5 soon after doctors removed his life-support system.
Adding to his wife Gertrude Anthony’s misfortune is a bill for 106,000 dirhams (RM113,000) from the hospital.
The sum is beyond Gertrude’s means. She works as a kindergarten teacher. But her appeals to the hospital on humanitarian grounds failed to reduce the huge amount.
“Now as days go by, the fees have ballooned up to almost RM150,000, as the hospital charges storage fees for unclaimed bodies. My husband has no insurance coverage and I have two children to support on my own,” Gertrude, who has a son and daughter aged 22 and 20.
Their son is a slow learner while the daughter is in college.
Gertrude said she had also sought assistance from the foreign ministry and MIC, but failed.
Those interested in helping Gertrude can call her at 017-507-8705.
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