AFTER nearly a year of medical and legal challenges, a 35-year-old Singaporean woman left in a vegetative state following a botched gastroscopy in South Korea, has finally returned to Singapore.
Tong Ming Yan, accompanied by her South Korean husband, Mr. Jang Jong-seok, and a medical team, arrived on January 27, just in time for Chinese New Year.
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The former teacher had relocated to South Korea with her family in 2022.
In April 2024, she signed up for a medical screening package at a hospital in Incheon, which included a gastroscopy and a colonoscopy under sedation; however, the sedation triggered a cardiac arrest that lasted nearly 20 minutes, resulting in irreversible brain damage.
Since the incident, she has been in intensive care and later transferred to a nursing facility in South Korea.
Jang, 37, a civil engineer, initiated a medical negligence lawsuit against the hospital, but the legal process delayed her return as an independent medical assessment, required for the case, could only be conducted in South Korea.
“Most South Koreans have no issues with waiting for the court-assigned hospital to do the medical assessments, since they are not in a hurry to go anywhere.
“But in Ming Yan’s case, it is different. There is an urgency to bring her home to Singapore for treatment,” he told Singapore’s The Straits Times.
After months of waiting, Mr. Jang opted to engage a private hospital for the assessment, despite it costing 3 million won (approx. RM9,098)—five times more than the court-assigned process.
“It is money worth spending,” he said.
Back in Singapore, Tong’s mother, Liew, has prepared a room for her daughter and hired a domestic helper experienced in caring for individuals with medical needs.
“I’m glad that Ming Yan is coming home, but I’m also worried about whether my husband and I can cope, especially when the two children are here too,” she was quoted as saying.
The family is looking forward to reuniting completely by March, when Jang and their two children—a five-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter—join them in Singapore.
“My family will finally be reunited in Singapore in March. It has taken almost a full year (since ong’s medical incident), but finally!” Jang stated.
Though Tong is still in a vegetative state, she has shown slight improvements, including fewer seizures and increased responsiveness to stimuli.
The husband shared, “My biggest wish is that she will wake up soon now that she is back in Singapore.”
