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Filipina hit by car over CNY needs help

08 March 2024

 

Gemologa has been in hospital since Feb 10

When it rains, it pours.

This is how a 35-year-old Filipina domestic helper is feeling right now, as she remains in hospital nearly a month after she was hit by a private car in Fortress Hill as she was rushing to bring food to her ailing employer at Tseung Kwan O hospital.

Nely Gemologa, who is married and has a teen-age daughter back in Cagayan Province, had started working for her employer only five days before the accident, which happened on the first day of the Chinese New Year.

The car’s impact was such that Nely suffered from internal bleeding and a broken pelvic bone that prevents her from walking on her own until now.

Pindutin para sa detalye

Excited akong maghatid ng pagkain sa amo ko na nasa ospital kaya napatakbo ako sa pagtawid at hindi ko nakita yung parating na kotse,” Nely recalled. (I was excited to bring food to my employer so I ran to cross the road and did not see the approaching car).

Unfortunately she was already beset with problems at the time. A sibling had fallen down a cave back in their hometown, her 16-year-old daughter had to be taken to hospital for a suspected kidney problem, and her grandfather had just passed on.

While she has worked in Hong Kong for five years, she just recently moved to her employer, which means she has yet to be paid a salary, and may not even be entitled to sick leave allowance.

TAWAG NA!

Worse, she now fears she will be fired as soon as she is released from the hospital, just when she badly needs money for her and her family members’ medical needs.

Compounding Nely’s woes are the many anxious days she has spent – alone – in four hospitals so far.

After being rushed to Ruttonjee Hospital in Wan Chai, she was transferred to the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital which was better equipped for the injuries she suffered, then to Tseung Kwan O Hospital, and now to the Adventist Hospital in Tsuen Wan where she is undergoing physiotherapy,

As her employer is herself sick, Nelly has never seen her since she was admitted to hospital. Her few visitors included Beth Lizardo from the foreign domestic helpers’ group Social Justice for Migrant Workers and a Filipino resident known as Iron Rock Jermice, who gave her a wheelchair.

PINDUTIN DITO

Through The SUN, Nely has asked that she be visited by officers of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration as she is uncertain what she should do when she’s allowed to leave the hospital. She also wants it known that there are no visiting hours at the hospital she’s now at, so anyone who wishes to see her to extend help and comfort could do so.

Nely said she’s hoping she will still be allowed to remain in Hong Kong as she is desperate for work. But if that is not possible, that she will still be paid some salary, despite what she admits was her contributory negligence in the accident.

Amid her woes, Nely learned she might be able to get compensation from a little-known fund administered by the Social Welfare Department for traffic accident victims in Hong Kong.

The Traffic Accident Victims Assistance Scheme provides compensation, provided the accident was reported to the Police, the victim was legally permitted to remain in Hong Kong at the time of the accident, the application must be made within six months after the accident, and the victim died/sustained permanent disability or the injury resulted in the victim being hospitalized for at least three days.

Nely could also apply for payment under the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance, which obliges employers to pay compensation for injuries sustained by their employees in the course of work. The payment will depend on the age and salary of the worker, and the extent of injuries suffered.

But to navigate through all these, Nely needs help, so she’s imploring staff at the Consulate or migrant support organizations to visit her as soon as possible. She can be contacted directly at the Adventist Hospital in Tsuen Wan, or through the Facebook account of Social Justice for Migrant Workers, care of administrator Beth Lizardo.

https://leade7.wixsite.com/thesunads/asiandragon
PADALA NA!

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