He made it 5,315 kilometres from Dodoma to Chennai, but before Elfalah Khamis Nassor (60) could drive another 9 km from the city airport to MIOT Hospitals for his medical appointment, his heart gave out.
Nasoor and wife had flown from Tanzania to Chennai. “It had taken some time for them to get their luggage and clear customs formalities. It was a little before 7 am when they finally reached the lift lobby and started to exit the terminal when he suddenly clutched his chest and fell down,” said a vendor inside the international terminal.
Though doctors from the Apollo Emergency Clinic at the airport were called, all they could do was to pronounce him dead.
Nassor, a Tanzanian citizen whose doctor had found that one of his heart valves was either weak or damaged, had suggested that he get it operated in a foreign country. After some internet research, he and his wife Habsy Nasrah Kalfan (49) zeroed in on MIOT Hospital is Nandambakkam and contacted their international desk.
Doctors at the airport have confirmed that Oman Airways had transported the body to the Chrompet GH for a post-mortem exam, though MIOT had offered to handle the relieving formalities. “His death may have been caused by the stress of travel as his heart may have been extremely weak. It is very tragic,” said an AAI official.