Falling ill overseas and running into difficulties returning home is easily any traveller’s worst nightmare.
Unfortunately, that was the case for Mr Loh Peng Hong, a pastor from Singapore who contracted Covid-19 while leading a missionary trip to South Korea. He subsequently developed severe complications and had to be hospitalised.
With medical bills and evacuation expenses costing nearly S$440,000, his family members are now appealing for donations to bring him home.
According to the crowdfunding campaign on Give.asia, Mr Loh led a missionary trip to South Korea in Oct 2022.
On 17 Oct 2022, the 60-year-old tested positive for Covid-19 and developed severe complications. He was then admitted to a South Korean hospital for emergency treatment.
Source: Give.asia
Medical staff subsequently put him on “life support ventilation”.
However, his condition deteriorated even further and doctors had to put him on an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine to assist with his breathing.
Source: Give.asia
The machine reportedly pumps and oxygenates a patient’s blood outside the body, allowing them to rest their heart and lungs.
Between 22 Oct 2022 and 31 Oct 2022, Loh’s condition began to improve and the doctor weaned him off the ECMO on 9 Nov 2022.
Attempts to wean him off the ventilator, however, were unsuccessful. Doctors eventually had to put Loh back on the ECMO when his condition worsened again.
Medical staff in South Korea have since advised Loh’s family to bring him back to Singapore to continue with his “long-term recovery”.
Having been in the hospital for the last three months, there was apparently a “window” within which Loh can return before further complications set in.
EMA Global, a Singapore-based medical evacuation company, has estimated the transfer cost to be about S$250,000. This will include transport in an air ambulance with specialised medical equipment like a portable ECMO and ventilator.
He will also require an ICU doctor, perfusionist, and nurse on board to monitor him throughout the evacuation.
To make matters worse, Loh’s medical bills for the past three months have amounted to over S$150,000.
“Every additional day in the hospital places additional financial pressure on us,” Loh’s family said. “Every additional day in the hospital is costing us S$2,000.”
According to the crowdfunding page, Loh would need nearly S$440,000 to pay off his medical bill in Korea and return to Singapore.
Loh’s family is now appealing for donations to ease the burden of the bill and bring him home.
Describing Loh as her “life partner” and “a filial son”, his wife added that he travelled to Korea with the intention of making a difference,
My husband was in Korea not on a holiday but doing what he loves best and what he felt was his calling; mission work.
She added that Loh’s father, who’s 98 this year, hopes that his son would return to Singapore by Chinese New Year.
All funds donated will reportedly be paid to the hospital in Korea and the emergency evacuation company through Give.asia, his family added.
They will not transfer or deposit any amount to a personal account or beneficiary.
“It is heartbreaking for us to see him fighting for his line, alone in a foreign land,” Loh’s family said. “Any amount will bring us a step closer to bringing Peng Hong back home.”
Interested parties can make donations via the campaign page here. At the time of writing, they have raised S$354,565, about S$90,000 away from their goal of S$440,000.
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Featured image adapted from Give.asia.
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