After two years in hospital: OFW vehicular victim in Dubai finally arrives home in Asturias

CEBU, Philippines - The 43-year-old Cebuana overseas worker, who became a maimed victim of a vehicular accident in Dubai on April 2013 has finally arrived in Cebu, two years after being confined in Rashid Hospital in that city.

Teresita Castro, who worked as a domestic helper in Dubai, arrived via Philippine Airlines flight at the Mactan International Airport at around 4 p.m. Thursday. She was accompanied by Crystal Balatayo, a nurse from Dubai.

Castro was unloaded from the plane, laid on a stretcher, and was then transported in an ambulance going to her hometown in Asturias town in the northern part of Cebu.

It took a long time for Castro to be able to go home, considering the many documents to be settled as well as the lack of funds, according to Jehan Agwanta, 35, a representative of a group of private individuals in Asturias.

Agwanta said the repatriation of Castro was made possible by the contribution of funds from Asturiasnons from different parts of the world. Her employer also contributed help by paying for her air fare.

"We contacted her around November 2013, and the pooling of funds continued until last year," Agwanta told reporters yesterday.

Agwanta said that, with the help of the social media, Castro's condition became known for several months to many netizens.

A letter was recently sent to the Asturias municipal government requesting for assistance. The LGU subsequently granted the request and, with the fund pool from Asturiasnons, paved the way for his homecoming.

Castro, a mother of six with an unemployed husband, worked in Dubai on March 2013, A month after, she got involved in a vehicular accident and was rushed to a hospital there.

She reportedly suffered multiple injuries, which made her very weak that she could not even speak a word due to the tracheostomy in her neck to help her breathe.

Part of Castro's brain was said to be "permanently damaged," Agwanta told the media, adding that she could only blink her eyes as a way of saying "yes."

No family members was able to see her over the past two years, and only Filipino nurses and volunteers provided her with care while being confined in the hospital.

Castro was reported to be always alone in her room as her concerned friends in Dubai could only visit her every Friday.

Now that Castro is back in Cebu and reunited with her family, Agwanta said she will stay in the Asturias Infirmary Clinic to be provided with regular medical assistance. — Christell Fatima M. Tudtud/RAE (FREEMAN)