On Friday, November 23, RT television channel in Arabic published on the site the plot of the video agency RT Ruptly about the tragedy that occurred with the Russian family, who was vacationing in Dubai. Anastasia Popova, a resident of Tambov, was unable to pay the bill for the treatment of her mother, Natalia, who was in a hospital in the United Arab Emirates for three weeks and died on November 20.
Because of the debt, the Russian woman could not take the body of the mother and leave Dubai. It was about 850 thousand dirhams (about $ 230 thousand or more than 15 million rubles). After learning about this story on the website of RT channel in Arabic, the ruler of Dubai emirate Mohammed bin Rashid paid the bills for treatment and air tickets for the deceased family, as well as the transportation of Natalia Popova’s body.
- After the publication of RT, the emir of Dubai paid the bills for the treatment of the dead Russian woman
"The bill, which we can not afford"
57-year-old Natalia Popova became ill on October 29 during a vacation by the pool at one of the resorts in Dubai. As it turned out later, she had a rupture (stratification) of the aorta, the largest artery. Popova’s daughter, Anastasia, called an ambulance, but in the hospital where they brought the woman, they said they could not save the patient.
A Tambov resident took her mother to another clinic, where she underwent a very difficult heart surgery, and then was placed in an intensive care unit. The cost of surgical intervention was 176 thousand dirhams (3.1 million rubles). In addition, the woman had to pay for other medical services that were provided by the hospital doctors. The total amount was about 850 thousand dirhams.
“Mom spent almost three weeks in a coma. I was with her all this time. On Thursday last week (Nov. 15 - RT ), doctors revived her and she began to speak. But on the 20th at lunch she became ill. Her heart could not stand it, and she died. There was an account that we can’t do, ”Anastasia told Ruptly.
Medical insurance could cover only medical services in the amount of 30 thousand euros (2.2 million rubles). Anastasia’s husband, Sergei, brought about 100,000 dirhams (1.8 million rubles) to Dubai. Where the family did not know where to get the remaining 11 million rubles.
Fortunately, the ruler of the emirate of Dubai, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, learned about the situation.
Immediately after the publication of the report on the website, the press office of the sheikh contacted the RT television office in Dubai with a request to provide family contacts. Mohammed bin Rashid assumed all costs of treatment and repatriation of the body. This is stated in the press service of the Government of Dubai.
Also, the document provides details of what happened with Natalia Popova. After the Russians diagnosed aortic dissection, the doctors of the clinic performed an open heart operation. After that, despite the efforts of the doctors, the patient's kidneys failed and she fell into a coma, which lasted a total of about 20 days. The report also notes that aortic rupture in most cases is fatal, even if treatment was started in a timely manner.
RT Arabic website manager Mazen Yousef on his Facebook page thanked Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid. According to him, “in such days you understand that you are not working in vain.”