Another American has passed away after falling seriously ill in the Dominican Republic. However, the saddest part of this story is that Khalid Adkins was trying to get home to the United States before he died.
According to Fox31, Adkins had traveled to the island nation with his daughter last week when he suddenly became sick.
On Sunday, he was trying to fly back to the United States. However, he was dripping with sweat and vomited in the plane’s bathroom. He was forced to disembark the plane and was later hospitalized in Santo Domingo.
“They transferred him to Santo Domingo and [said] that his breathing is really bad and that his kidneys were failing,” Adkins’ sister-in-law, Marla Strick told the news station.
The family said they were still unsure of his diagnosis on Tuesday evening, only knowing that he was in pain and sweating and vomiting.
“He said his leg started to swell and that’s why he couldn’t get up. And he started sweating and vomiting. He is just yelling and in pain, so he couldn’t talk to me,” Strick said.
According to Adkins’ family, doctors said that they could try to find dialysis in Santo Domingo or return him to the U.S. via air ambulance, which would have cost an estimated $20,000.
However, by Tuesday night, Adkins was dead.
“I am absolutely detested [sic] to make this update but we have lost Khalid!!!,” Strick posted in a GoFundMe organized for the family on Wednesday. “We found out this morning that he passed away last night!! I am at a loss for words we have no explanation of what happened all they will say is he get sick!! We need to get his body home anything helps please!! We really want to know what happened!”
The GoFundMe to get Adkins home has raised more than $21,000 in a single day.
So far, 10 Americans have died after visiting the Dominican Republic this year, raising suspicions as to the causes of death. However, as Fox31 notes, DR officials claimed that the number of deaths is not unusual and that the tourist deaths are not related to one another.