BACOLOD CITY, Philippines—The body of the nurse from Cadiz City in Negros Occidental who succumbed to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus (MERS-CoV) in Saudi Arabia was buried immediately after she was brought back here on Thursday.
The remains of Ma. Gemma Barilea-Oplas, 45, were received by her husband Bonifacio and daughter Loise Abigail at the cargo terminal of Bacolod-Silay Airport at 5:50 p.m.
Bonifacio and Loise Abigail were accompanied by about 70 close relatives and friends.
From the airport, they proceeded to the Rolling Hills Memorial Park here to bury her body, which had been frozen before it was shipped home to ensure that the virus could not cause further infection.
Bonifacio said the coffin was not opened on instructions of the Department of Health.
“She would have been happy to be buried in her homeland. I wanted her remains to be returned to us,” Bonifacio said.
Gemma, a resident of Cadiz City, was an emergency room nurse at the King Fahd Medical City in Riyadh when she died of MERS-CoV on May 6.
She had been working at the medical city since 2005 although she had been in Saudi Arabia since 2001.
Loise Abigail said the last time she talked to her mother was a day before she died.
She described Gemma as an “ideal mother” who would do anything to give her what she needed without spoiling her.
Bonifacio, a civil engineer employed with the Cadiz City government, said that Gemma sent him a text message on April 30 that she had been admitted to the hospital for pneumonia.
But six days later, he said they were informed that she had passed away.
Bonifacio said he was told by Gemma’s coworker that before his wife got sick, Gemma took care of a fellow emergency room Filipina nurse from Manila who was also infected by the deadly virus.
Bonifacio said his wife was supposed to come home in March to attend the graduation of their daughter, who is an honor student. Gemma, however, was not allowed to go on leave.
The last time Gemma came home in Cadiz was from February to March of 2013, when her mother died, he said.
She returned to Saudi Arabia on the last week of March 2013, just after his birthday.
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