Filipino maid dies of stroke after appeal from hospital

A 37-year-old Filipino domestic worker died of stroke in Kowloon’s Kwong Wah Hospital on Monday, two days after a viral photo posted on social media showed a letter from the hospital appealing to the Philippine Consulate for help getting her family to Hong Kong to be with her.

A photo of the letter issued by a consultant with the hospital’s neurosurgery department about Bernadett Manalo Natividad’s medical condition went viral on Facebook and spread among Hong Kong’s Filipino community, sunwebhk.com reported.

The letter, accompanied by a copy of the Natividad’s Hong Kong ID, said “the above-named patient was admitted on the 21st July 2018 for severe hemorrhagic stroke. Her condition is critical and life-threatening. The patient will pass away at any moment.

“It has come to our attention that she has family members residing in the Philippines. For her sake, please consider the early processing of their application to visit the patient as soon as possible,” the letter urged.

According to Virsie Tamayao of the Philippines’ Overseas Workers Welfare Administration office, Natividad’s employer had called for help after finding the maid unconscious on the night of July 21.

The employer also called the OWWA’s hotline to report the case, and was coordinating with the Assistance to Nationals Section of the Philippine Consulate on preparations for repatriating the woman’s remains.

Natividad died on Monday without regaining consciousness. Consulate officials said her sister and a group of friends managed to gather at the hospital a day after she was rushed there in critical condition.

Natividad, married with two young children, had been working in Hong Kong since 2015, but had been with her current employer for just a little over a year.