OFW in Kwong Wah appeal dies of stroke

By Daisy CL Mandap

A Filipina domestic worker died of stroke in Kwong Wah Hospital early on Monday, Jul 23, two days after an appeal for help to get her family in the Philippines by her bedside before she passed on went viral on Facebook.

Kwong Wah's letter

Bernadett Manalo Natividad, 37, married and a resident of Guiguinto, Bulacan, died without regaining consciousness. But officers at the Consulate said her sister and a group of friends managed to gather at the hospital a day after she was rushed there in critical condition. She died a few hours afterwards.

Natividad’s medical condition became known to thousands of people in the community after a letter from Kwong Wah asking for help in facilitating the travel to Hong Kong of her family in the Philippines, went viral on Facebook.

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

”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.

Weloff Tamayao 

According to the Virsie Tamayao of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration office, Natividad’s employer was the one who called for help after finding the helper unconscious on the night of Jul 21.

The employer also called up OWWA’s hotline to report on the case, and was coordinating with the assistance to nationals section of the Consulate on the preparations for repatriating the victim’s remains.

Tamayao said she personally went to Kwong Wah on Jul 22 to extend assistance, but Natividad was still in intensive care at the time, fighting for her life. Only a nurse reportedly briefed her on the patient’s condition.

Natividad was reportedly married with two young children. Her husband had already been notified of her death. She had been working in Hong Kong since 2015, but has been with her current employer for just a little over a year.

According to Tamayao, the worker’s family would be entitled to the Php100,000 death benefit plus Php20,000 funeral assistance extended to all OWWA members. In addition, one of her children would be given scholarship until she finishes college, in line with OWWA’s Education and Livelihood Assistance Program.