Paralyzed OFW returns home from Jordan

A Filipino worker in Jordan who was paralyzed from neck down in an accident last year returned to the country to reunite with her family and continue her treatment here, the foreign affairs department reported Friday. Jennifer Perez fell from the second floor of her employer's house in Irbid, Jordan last July, reportedly after an altercation with her Jordanian employer. The case against the employer was filed by the Philippine Embassy but it is still pending at the Irbid Court of First Instance. Perez arrived at Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Wednesday 1:28 pm onboard Etihad Airways. From the plane, she was carried to a waiting ambulance which brought her to the Philippine General Hospital, where her treatment will continue. THe flight to Manila was delayed for a day due to the unavailability of a suction machine she needed while on the plane. She was accompanied by her father and a nurse. Perez was treated and confined at Ibn Al Haytham Hospital, Amman for more than nine months. At the time of repatriation, her total hospital bill reached $91,000. Of the amount, $34,000 was paid by the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, $7,000 by the Office of the President, $6,000 from Filipino community and Jordanian recruitment agents' donations, and $6,000 from her insurance. The Jordanian hospital allowed Perez' repatriation after Ambassador Jose del Rosario Jr. and Labor Attaché Mohammad Nur Aldin Tamano signed a joint undertaking that the Philippine government will pay the balance of the bill later. Del Rosario also called on Jordan's Minister of Interior Eid Fayez and appealed for the condonation of Perez and her father's penalties for overstaying. Minister Fayez granted the condonation and approved the repatriation of Perez.-GMANews.TV