Russian citizen Natalia Popova, 57, who was spending her vacation in a resort near Dubai, was hospitalised on 29 October. Doctors told Popova’s daughter Anastasia that they could not save her mother, who had suffered from an aortic dissection.
“My mother remained in a coma for almost three weeks. I was near her bed all this time. Last Thursday [15 November] doctors brought her out of coma and she could speak. But on 20 November, at dinner time she felt bad. She suffered a heart attack and died,” Anastasia told Ruptly.
The total bill for the medical services rendered was 850,000 dirhams (over $230,000), while Popova’s medical insurance only covered 30,000 euros (some $34,000). Anastasia’s husband Sergei arrived in the United Arab Emirates with 100,000 dirhams, but she still needed some $170,000.
READ MORE: UAE, Russia Call to Establish Broad Int'l Coalition to Fight Terrorism
Anastasia could neither leave the United Arab Emirates, nor transport the body of her mother to Russia due to the unpaid medical services.
According to a later statement, issued by al Maktoum’s press service, the government of Dubai covered all the family's treatment and transportation costs.
RT Arabic website head Mazen Yousef wrote on Twitter that in such situations he realises that his work is not in vain.
