Woman left in vegetative state by botched procedure returns to S'pore

The Singaporean woman left in a vegetative state after a botched gastroscopy in South Korea has returned to Singapore just in time for Chinese New Year.

After months of waiting, Ms Tong Ming Yan, 35, was finally flown home on Jan 27, accompanied by a medical team and her South Korean husband, Mr Jang Jong-seok.

In April 2024, Ms Tong signed up for a medical screening package at a hospital in Incheon city which included a gastroscopy – the examination of the upper gastrointestinal tract – and a colonoscopy, both to be done under sedation.

During the procedure, Ms Tong, a former teacher, suffered a cardiac arrest after the sedative was administered.

By the time she was resuscitated after nearly 20 minutes, Ms Tong had already suffered irreversible brain damage, leaving her in a vegetative state.

She spent the next four months in another hospital’s intensive care unit before being moved to a nursing facility in August.

Mr Jang, 37, a civil engineer, is suing the hospital that performed the procedure for medical negligence and seeking damages and compensation for what happened to his wife.

Such medical lawsuits mandate an independent medical assessment, which stalled Ms Tong’s return to Singapore as the assessment can be done only in South Korea, where the lawsuit is filed.

Court documents seen by The Straits Times in November showed that at least three hospitals had turned down the court-issued request for help with the medical assessment.

When ST reported about Ms Tong’s plight in the same month, Mr Kim Jung-min, the lawyer engaged by Mr Jang, said that it was normal to wait six months to a year for such independent medical assessments, and insisted that there was no delay in the process.

But after ST published the article, the lawyer suggested that Mr Jang engage a hospital for the independent medical assessment instead of waiting for the court to assign one.

Speaking to ST on Jan 27 at the nursing facility as medical staff were preparing Ms Tong for medical evacuation, Mr Jang said: “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 and the lawyer thought of bringing up this option only after the article was published.”

While engaging a hospital for the independent medical assessment costs three million won (S$2,800), five times more than what a court-assigned assessment would cost, it is money worth spending, said Mr Jang.

He was happy and relieved that Ms Tong was finally able to return home to Singapore to her anxious family and friends.

“Over here in South Korea, I’m all by myself having to work, care for Ming Yan and also worry about my two young children. But in Singapore, I will be able to get support from my in-laws and Ming Yan’s younger sister and her husband, which I really need and appreciate.”

Mr Jang will return to South Korea on Jan 29 after settling Ms Tong in Singapore.

He will move to Singapore for good in mid-February.

The couple’s two young children – a five-year-old son and two-year-old daughter – who are currently under the care of his parents in his home town of Chungju, will move to Singapore in mid-March.

“My family will finally be reunited in Singapore in March. It has taken almost a full year (since Ms Tong’s medical incident), but finally!” said Mr Jang.

In Singapore, Ms Tong’s mother, who wants to be known only as Madam Liew, is excited and anxious at the same time.

She has prepared a room for Ms Tong and hired a domestic helper with experience in caring for people with medical needs.

Speaking to ST before her daughter’s arrival, she said: “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.”

The family, including the sister’s family, had an early reunion dinner on Jan 26, as they expect that they will be busy caring for Ms Tong, who will be admitted to hospital for medical checks after arriving in Singapore. 

Ms Tong’s former colleagues, teachers at St Gabriel’s Secondary School, told ST that they are relieved she is finally home, and “closer to loved ones”. She taught at the school before she and her family relocated to South Korea in 2022.

A Give.Asia funding campaign set up by a separate group of Ms Tong’s close friends, which ran for slightly over a month, raised more than 116 million won. The amount was enough to cover Ms Tong’s medical expenses in South Korea and her medical evacuation to Singapore.

A representative of the group told ST that they were “incredibly moved and inspired by the overwhelming love and generosity” shown by donors, many of whom, like Ms Tong, are fans of South Korean singer IU. 

Some of the fans who live in South Korea even visited Ms Tong in the Incheon nursing facility after reading about her plight.

On the donations, Mr Jang said: “I want to thank each and every one of them (the donors) for their help, but I am not able to do so as many of them are anonymous donors. Their help and support have given me the courage to continue fighting for Ming Yan.”

He is hopeful about her recovery as she has stopped having seizures, has shown slight improvements in her response to stimuli and is now sometimes able to swallow her own saliva. 

“My biggest wish is that she will wake up soon now that she is back in Singapore,” said Mr Jang.