Cancun trip turns into COVID nightmare

    CANCUN, MEXICO – A nightmare of a situation continues to play out for a Harlan woman whose husband died from COVID-19 while vacationing in Cancun, Mexico, and she’s facing difficulties having the body released from the country to be brought home to the United States.
    It’s a cautionary tale, said Teresa Jennings, for those who travel outside the continental U.S. and who may suffer a medical emergency.
    Jennings said Mexican medical personnel initially demanded $29,000 in up-front payments for services rendered after Joe became ill with COVID-19 early into their trip, and then transferred him without authorization to another general hospital before a local funeral home eventually notified her that Joe actually had passed away.
    Jennings said the hospital rifled through his wallet, tried to use his credit cards and kept his passport, wallet, phone, cab money and clothes even before his death.
    Just trying to have his body returned to Harlan has been a challenge.
    “My husband might be round, and he might bounce, but can we please stop playing ping pong with him?,” Jennings said late last week.

Full article in the Tribune.