Four months after she died in Riyadh, my sister in law, a
former nurse in a Saudi government hospital, is finally home in our province in
Negros Occ. Welcome home, Gemma. Lois, their only child, 13 yo, with her in this photo which I took from Gemma's fb wall.
She should have been brought home last August 17 via
Cathay Pacific (Riyadh-HK-Manila). But about one or two days before she would
be transported, Cathay demanded a new requirement before they would transport
Gemma. First they demanded an "import permit" from Manila. When I
wrote to them what
is that “import permit” and what agency in Manila it should come from,
they corrected it to "embalmer's certificate" from Saudi, etc. My
brother wrote to the travel agency arranged by the Saudi hospital, to look for
another airline that would not be too bureaucratic.
So the travel agency arranged for a new airline. Saudia Air took her from
Riyadh to Manila direct, arrived mid-day today, then PAL for Manila-Bacolod.
The plane landed in Silay-Bacolod airport before 6pm, the body was brought to Rolling
Hills funeral park in Bacolod, short mass, then she was buried. Now she is back
in the
province where she was born and
grew up.
Her arrival at
Manila airport today was reported in TV
Patrol of ABS-CBN, and was reported online.
Report from Atom
Araullo, ABS-CBNnews.com
Posted at
09/04/2014 2:51 PM | Updated as of 09/04/2014 2:51 PM
MANILA – The
remains of a Filipina nurse who died from the Middle East Respiratory
Syndrome-Corona Virus in Saudi Arabia arrived in Manila on Thursday morning.
The body of Gemma
Barrilea Oplas arrived at the cargo section of Ninoy Aquino International
Airport Terminal 1 past 10 a.m. It was immediately brought to Bacolod….
Special thanks again to the DFA. Riyadh PH Embassy
coordinated with Saudi MOH and the hospital to finally bring her back.
Problem 1, bringing home the remains, is solved.
Problem 2, sending the benefits that the hospital would
give to Gemma's family (her siblings included, based on Saudi laws and
culture). This will take several weeks more...
I checked the ABS-CBN facebook page for this report,
there were many comments. Mostly positive and notes of condolence, but there
are some idiots who wrote negatively about Gemma, or about health OFWs in Saudi
in general. Ignoring the idiots, here are some comments, mainly from Gemma’s
friends:
Jan Jefri: FYI
po, colleague ko po ung nsa news.. she died here in Riyadh kaso need to keep
for 2-3 months freezed para macontain ung virus.. SOP po yan ng Ministry of
Health dto s KSA. Pinoy nurses are highly competitive when it comes to giving
nursing care to patients regardless of the disease that a patient have. Direct
contact na kulang nlng mahalikan at mayakap ang mga pasyente. We took care our
patients as our own family.. Yan ang risk sa profession na pinile nmin.. All we
need is your prayers to all nurses all over the world.
Ang work po nmin as nurse dto is from the dirtiest to
clean work..meaning all in one po.. package ika nga!!! At dyan competent mga
pinoy nurses.. a million salute to you Ate Gemma, may your soul rest in peace.
Youre a HERO!!!
..and another thing, if you're working as ER nurse in any
facility hndi mo alam kung anong meron ang bawat pasyente na pumapasok sa
unit..Likewise, madaming ntatamaan ng MERScOV na asymptomatic pero positive
pala s test.. so hindi mo rin tlaga masabi.. need tlga to boost immunity para
sa mga virus na yan and effective handwashing.. especially now that ebola is
around. MERS and EBOLA will go hand and hand!!! Fight fight fight fellow
nurses!!!
Oo nga, instead na magsalita ng hndi maganda..better to
pray for everyone..wala nman may gusto na madapuhan ng deadly virus na yan..
Rest in peace ate gemma.. ur memories will remain in our
hearts.. a million salute to you!!!
Richel Amante
Tayros: Rest in peace Gemma kapitbahay ko yan.at yung mga bad comments ng
iba na kung ano anung speculation pwede kung wala kayong alam hwag na lng
magsalita ng masama.hindi nyo kilala yung tao pra husgahan.
Yoj Arnaldo: Sa
mga may negative comment jan, gemma took care of her colleague na may mers.nahawa
sya and namatay ahead.d pa nga alam ng nkahawa sa kanya na patay na sya.gemma
is a friend of my friend.imbes magcomment ng pangit,kesyo ganito o ganyan, why
cant u just pray for her soul...
Danilyn Pinote:
tama na,hwg naman kau masyado putak ng putak.saludo ako sa kanya. nagbuwis sya
ng buhay nya para sa ibang tao.ginampanan lang nya ang trabaho nya. condolence
po
Roxane Septimo Romias:
She a Person withbeautiful heart kahit nung nakalatay sya pneumonia pa lang
findings in ask pa nxa ako i doble check ung namatay ng mers cove kasi kaibigan
nya meron
Myrz Flores:
Totoo na mers cov yun..nag alalaga siya ng kaibigan na may mers then siya pa
yung namtay..yung inalagaan niya buhay at stabke na sa ngaun.kakalungkot naman
talaga at ngaun lang siya nakauwi.
Ross-ana Hulleza
Toroy: I would like to express my sincere condolence to the family of my
friend gemma oplas.rest in peace my dear friend.
----------See also:
MERS CoV and OFWs May 08, 2014
MERS-CoV and OFWs, Part 2, August 26, 2014
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