British widow’s Thailand dream turns to heartbreak
Husband's ashes come home in a backpack
A British woman paid tribute to her “kind, compassionate” husband, who died after suffering a heart attack on a flight home from their dream holiday in Thailand. The couple’s flight was diverted to India when he took ill and eventually died in a Delhi hospital.
The dead man’s British wife, Gill Dunn, then had the ignominy of bringing her husband’s ashes home in a backpack after going through a “bureaucratic nightmare.”
The 69 year old jetted off to Thailand with her 66 year old husband Paul, for two weeks to celebrate him finishing more than 20 years working for the NHS.
A British woman has told of her heartbreak after her husband suffered a fatal heart attack on a flight home from their dream holiday in Thailand, leaving her to bring his ashes back to the UK in a rucksack.
The trip was “amazing,” Gill said, as they toured temples, rode rickshaws, and even saw elephants. But just two hours into their flight home, Paul suffered a stroke mid-air, forcing an emergency landing in Delhi, India.
Rushed to hospital, Paul spent two weeks in intensive care before tragically passing away on March 5. His widow was then thrown into a bureaucratic nightmare, battling red tape for weeks before she was finally able to bring her husband home, his remains carried in a backpack.
“Our dream holiday ended in a bureaucratic nightmare. He had wonderful hospital care, but the rest of it was a maze of conflicting information. I can’t tell you the relief I felt to leave India. Every day, it was like a knife in my back.”
Gill and Paul had been together for 42 years and married for 31. She described him as a “quiet man full of kindness and compassion” who had a “twinkle in his eye.”
Their long-anticipated Thailand trip had been perfect, said Gill, a retired volunteer advisor from Leicester.
“Paul was invited to a talk in Bangkok with his old colleagues. After that, we had a fantastic two weeks celebrating his retirement. The people of Thailand were so kind and gentle.”
But the joy was short-lived. On February 21, as their Thai Airways flight soared home, Paul collapsed. A GP and A&E nurse onboard rushed to help as the pilot diverted to Delhi.
With no accommodation nearby, a nurse allowed Gill to stay in a hospital room next to Paul. Their son, Matthew, and his partner, Amy, flew out to support her.
“At first, the doctors thought Paul was doing okay. Matthew and Amy arrived on the Monday and, luckily, they got to say goodbye to him before he got worse.”
On March 5, Paul lost his fight for life. What followed was a harrowing experience as Gill navigated India’s tangled bureaucracy to bring her husband home.
“The cremation was brutal. We were put in this awful hearse ambulance with Paul’s body in the back. Then, at the cremation site, he was just shoved on some logs and put in an oven.”
Her ordeal didn’t end there. When she first arrived in Delhi, she was granted an emergency visa, only to be told she needed an immediate exit visa instead. Then came more hoops to jump through, permission from the police and immigration, plus a stack of paperwork including a cremation certificate and death certificate.
‘I had to go to the police station to get permission to leave. The British Embassy was no help. They just sent me an email with a list of funeral directors. It was so frustrating.’
By March 7, after weeks of stress and uncertainty, Gill was finally granted the exit visa she needed, The Daily Mail reported.
“By that Friday night, we had Paul’s remains and all the paperwork. We knew we could finally get home. But I had to carry his ashes in a rucksack.”
She flew back with Matthew and Amy the next day, finally able to grieve properly.
“It was such a relief to be home and know we could lay Paul to rest the way he deserved.”
She hopes her ordeal will encourage authorities to make the process easier for grieving families.
“No one should have to go through this kind of ordeal when they’ve just lost the love of their life.”
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