Pinoy hikers warned as OFW in coma after fainting during climb

By Vir B. Lumicao

OFWs are advised to check with doctors if they're fit to join hikes

A Filipina helper is fighting for her life in hospital after collapsing and falling into a coma while on a hike with friends on one of Hong Kong’s mountains on Sunday, Feb 17.

Rosalie V. Nituda, 42 years old, was rushed to hospital by an ambulance team after her hiking buddies called for help immediately after she lost consciousness.

Labor Attaché Jalilo dela Torre is urging hikers to consult with doctors before embarking on a hike to avoid similar incidents.

“We are concerned about the incident where a mountain hiker collapsed while hiking and is now comatose,” Labatt Dela Torre said in response to an online inquiry.

“I urge hikers in the community to first consult your doctor before undergoing such strenuous activity. Mountain climbing is no walk in the park – one needs to be physically and mentally fit for it,” he said.

He said officers of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration will visit Nituda at the hospital this week to check on her condition.

Nituda is reported to be on her second contract with her current employer.

The employer went to the POLO on Wednesday and reported the incident. She had gone earlier to the Consulate’s assistance to nationals office but reportedly refused to identify the victim, herself or the hospital.

“The employer did not want to give details, including which hospital the worker was taken. She came here looking for OWWA, so, I just referred her to OWWA,” said an ATN officer.

The employer only said doctors in the hospital had operated on the helper’s brain, after she collapsed while hiking with friends at noontime on Sunday.

Hong Kong was cloudy that day, with showers in the morning and temperatures ranging from 18 to 20 degrees Celsius.

The weather was far cooler than a day earlier, when a 45-year-old local male hiker also collapsed at noontime on Devil’s Peak above Yau Tong in East Kowloon after calling police and complaining that he was dizzy, media reports said. The mercury was at 26 degrees, unusually hot for this time of the year.

The man was taken to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital in Chai Wan by a government helicopter. He died at 2:55pm.