A Filipino household worker died in Kuwait after being declared brain dead, leaving her family in Agusan del Norte scrambling to fund the repatriation of her remains — just days before she was due to return to the Philippines.
Glaiza Rozal Amor, from Las Nieves, Agusan del Norte, told Bombo Radyo that the family only learned what happened through a friend of her mother who also works for a relative of the employer. That friend was the one who discovered the woman unconscious inside a comfort room and called for an ambulance.
Doctors performed emergency surgery after blood was found in the woman’s brain. She did not recover, and was declared brain dead before dying at around 3:00 a.m. Philippine time.
The family believes high blood pressure may have contributed to her death, but they also pointed to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East as a possible factor — saying that gunfire and explosions were regularly audible in the area where she worked. Because of that uncertainty, Amor said they decided against requesting an autopsy on the body.
Her mother’s contract in Kuwait was set to expire on April 14, meaning she had been just weeks away from coming home when she died.
The family is now appealing for assistance to cover the costs of bringing her remains back to the Philippines.
