68-year-old woman in Thailand dies after oxygen tank shuts off following electricity cut

Elderly woman dies after oxygen machine shuts down due to electricity cut

A 68-year-old bedridden woman died after her oxygen machine stopped working following a power cut to her home.

According to Matichon, a representative from the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) arrived at the woman’s house to disconnect the electricity on Monday (1 Oct) due to two months of unpaid bills.

Upon hearing this, the woman’s niece begged the representative not to cut the power.

She explained that the home relied on essential medical devices, including an oxygen concentrator and a ventilator, to support her aunt’s health.

Without these devices, she feared her aunt’s condition would worsen significantly.

Representative ignores family’s pleas

Previously, the household had not been billed for electricity as their usage was within the limits covered by state assistance.

However, when the woman’s health deteriorated and required the use of medical equipment around the clock, their electricity consumption increased.

This resulted in an overdue bill of 1,500 baht (about S$59).

The family offered to pay the outstanding amount immediately, pleading with the representative to delay the power cut until the payment was made.

Despite this, the representative insisted they were following protocol and proceeded to disconnect the electricity.

Family rushed to get power restored, but it was too late

The family scrambled to gather funds and rushed to pay the outstanding bill.

Her 73-year-old sister rode on the back of her niece’s motorcycle, and they travelled 10km to the nearest PEA office.

A PEA employee was able to restore the electricity to the home within an hour, but by then, it was too late.

For the past couple of months, the family had been taking turns caring for the bedridden woman, who lived alone after her husband died 10 years ago and had no children.

Her 42-year-old niece explained to Matichon that family members regularly visited her after work.

Despite requiring medical devices, the woman had remained lucid and was able to eat meals on her own.

Previous power cut incident allegedly ignored

The family revealed that the household had faced a similar power cut a few months earlier despite informing the authorities of the bedridden woman’s condition.

They had previously begged the PEA to notify them ahead of any future disconnections to avoid life-threatening situations, but this request was seemingly ignored.

Outraged by the recent incident, the deceased woman’s elder sister demanded an explanation from the PEA and urged them to take responsibility for her sister’s death.

Also read: Angry Thai man opens fire at electricity office after his power was disconnected due to unpaid bills

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Featured image adapted from Matichon.