Beatrice Lakon, the Vanuatu woman who has been receiving cancer treatment in Auckland for a huge eye tumour, has suffered a blow with the sudden death of her husband.
Gisborne nurse Margaret Thorpe took Mrs Lakon back to Vanuatu this week to be with her family, well ahead of her planned
departure date of December 4.
The setback has come at a bad time as Mrs Lakon was responding well to treatment for the tumour.
She had 10 days of therapy remaining, but she is now unsure about whether she will return to complete the treatment.
Mrs Lakon, 52, lives on Malekula, a remote island in the Vanuatu group.
Her plight was televised on a programme featuring the work of New Zealand doctor Derek Allen and Mrs Thorpe in the Third World conditions of Norsup Hospital and New Zealanders responded to her situation.
She arrived on August 31 and was treated free at Auckland Hospital. She has been staying at the Domain Lodge.
Mrs Thorpe said that judging by what islanders said, Mrs Lakon's husband, Augustino, might have suffered a heart attack.
He was taken to Dr Allen's hospital but he was dead on arrival.
"The unfortunate thing is that she was doing so well and was responding to the treatment," Mrs Thorpe said.
"The tumour has shrunk and there is new skin growth. The oncologists were not expecting to see such progress before two to five months.
"She is absolutely devastated and she needs to get back to Vanuatu and be with her family.
"She has children and grandchildren."
It is a two-day trip to Mrs Lakon's home island.
- NZPA
