A woman has tragically died on the same day that she was reunited with her Chinese husband after three years apart due to Covid, it is reported.
Identified by her first name Nika, the Russian woman was finally able to see her partner in Nanning at the end of October after such a long time due to the extreme travel restrictions imposed in China.
But sadly the woman became ill after their meeting, reportedly said her husband Mr Ouyang, 38.
“We were both crying and hugging for five minutes,” he told the South China Morning Post, about when they were able to meet.
“I was happy, extremely happy. However, tragedy happened on our way home.”
He said that when they were travelling by road, Nika suddenly began to struggle breathing and he drove her to a nearby hospital.
She reportedly had suffered a cardiac arrest due to massive pulmonary embolism and Mr Ouyang said he was told there was “no hope” of survival.
But still the husband did not accept the diagnosis and drove her to a larger hospital in Nanning around 90 miles away with Nika unconscious.
“She was in a coma after her symptoms began to appear. She hasn’t said a word,” he said, reported the South China Morning Post.
Mr Ouyang said Nika was a kind person and they were looking forward to a future together having originally met in 2018, before having to spend three years apart.
“I felt relaxed with her, and I’ve learned a lot from her,” he said. “We were looking forward to our future. We said to each other that we should work hard to live together, either in Russia or in China.”
Nika had suffered from ill-health for most of her life and it has been claimed the embolism resulted from the long flight to China.
Now Nika’s organs have been donated to four people in China.
Her husband said that they had both talked about the choice of making organ donations but he still needed to get permission from her mother in Russia.
“Her mother only said this is Nika’s choice,” said Mr Ouyang. “I can really feel that my wife loved me so much that she chose to come to China to see me at the risk of losing her life.”
Nika's story has been shared on social media in China and she has been widely praised for donating the organs.
“May there be love in heaven for this lady,” wrote one person and another said: “What a kind Russian girl! Rest in peace. Thank you! Chinese people won’t forget you.”
Similarly a third said: “It’s such a tragic story. It’s too hard to accept this ending."
