A Singaporean doctor who died on the way to a medical clinic in Bali after signaling for help during a dive, likely died from decompression sickness, says her husband.
Dr. Wong Yu Yi, 48, was an experienced diver and apparently had around 100 dives on her log, but a dive in Bali last Wednesday went terribly wrong for the woman.
The doctor had been on a dive with a group at Blue Lagoon off Bali’s eastern port town, Padangbai.
They were down at a depth of about 20 meters when Wong signalled to the guide for help.
“We immediately took her to Padangbai Beach, then to Penta Medika Clinic,” local guide, Nyoman Ariastawan, told Bali Post.
But by the time Wong got to the clinic, she was declared dead on arrival.
An autopsy revealed the woman had decompression sickness, which can occur when divers experience changes in pressure too rapidly and gas bubbles form in the blood. The decompression sickness is likely the cause of the woman’s death, her husband, Dr. Peng Yeong Pin told the Straits Times on Saturday at his wife’s wake.
“She’s an experienced diver, with about a hundred dives in her log,” Peng said, adding that his wife had been to destinations like Indonesia’s Raja Ampat, the Red Sea in Egypt, and the Philippines for dive trips.
“This was her passion.”
Wong is survived by her husband and their three children, aged 11 to 19.
Text: Coconuts Bali
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