The SUN HK : Filipina, 35, dies of heart attack

By The SUN

Rowena's grateful post shortly after she was rushed to hospital

“Sariling laban. (emojis) Kala ko mamatay na ako kagabi, wag muna ang bata ko pa. thank you Lord.”

(My own struggle. I thought I would die last night, I shouldn’t, I am too young. Thank you Lord.”

This was the Facebook post made by 35-year-old Rowena Butacan shortly after being told at Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital last Friday, Jan. 13, that she had a heart attack.

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She lived just long enough to make the post and have a chat with her longtime partner, Red Ramos when she had another cardiac arrest, more massive this time, from which she never woke up.

Rowena was officially declared dead at about 5am on Saturday, after she was unplugged from a life support machine.

Red still recalls the last conversation they had, when Rowena told him about how the doctors had told her that she almost died from a heart attack. Though grateful that she survived it, she did not pay it much heed.

Little did they know that it would be their last conversation with each other.

Red and Rowena in a picture taken in September last year, when she took a month-long vacation

Rowena’s sudden death is double the heartache for Red because he had just arrived in Poland the previous day, to take up the job of a machine operator. That means going back to their home in Cagayan in time for his partner’s funeral and console their seven-year-old daughter Reine is out of the question.

Now, all that their family wants is for Rowena’s remains to be repatriated as soon as possible, though they have been told by the Consulate that the process would take between two to three weeks.

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Her friends have also indicated a desire to see Rowena for the last time, so a public viewing of her remains is being planned.

Red said Rowena had been on medication for her high blood measure, but had no other underlying condition.

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“Wala po siyang sakit, nagulat na lang po sya nung sinabi ng doktor na may sakit siya sa puso,” said Red. (She had no known ailment, so she was surprised when the doctor told her that she had a heart condition).

Rowena had been with her current employer for three years, but had worked previously in Taiwan, as well as in Hong Kong. Before each deployment, she had to undergo a medical check-up to make sure she was fit to work abroad.

Red said Rowena passed all these tests without a problem.

A fit-looking Rowena in one of her hikes

Her Facebook posts also show she was quite active, having taken up hiking in Hong Kong. One post said she had scaled the Devil’s Peak but vowed not to do it again.

Just before she was rushed to hospital, Rowena had complained of severe chest pains that her employer, who had tested positive and was isolating at home, had to call an ambulance for her.