Juanita 

Reema Shrivastava remembers her father Subhash Parekh as an awesome person, who beloved to swim, dance, and was the existence of the party.

Unfortunately, the retired pharmacist from Sarnia, Ont. died tragically in December 2023 whilst on family vacation in the Dominican Republic.

Subhash and his spouse of 41 yrs, Bina, boarded an Air Transat flight from London, Ont. to the Dominic Republic for what was intended to be a trip to celebrate their retirement.

On Boxing Day, the few booked a sightseeing tour that included a check out to close by Macao Beach. Although swimming in the clear blue waters of the Caribbean Sea, Subhash endured a heart attack.

Shrivastava claimed her father’s entire body was dragged to shore, exactly where a Canadian few tried out to accomplish CPR on him for virtually 30 minutes, but sadly he did not endure.

Shrivastava claimed her 70-calendar year-outdated father’s human body laid on the seaside for nearly three several hours prior to crisis staff arrived. She explained the tour enterprise did not have an AED on board, and the team was not experienced to complete CPR.

The expertise has left Subhash’s wife Bina heartbroken and traumatized. Shrivastava stated her mother was remaining sensation hopeless and isolated owning to navigate the aftermath of her husband’s loss of life in a foreign region.

“I was in shock, didn’t know what to say or do, all I stated was I will need to get to Punta Cana,” said Shrivastava.

Immediately after having the information of her father’s passing, Shrivastava flew from Toronto to be by her mother’s facet and aid organize the return of her father’s entire body back again to Canada.

Shrivastava claimed small was performed by the airline enterprise to enable her navigate the complexities of this predicament.

After her father’s overall body was eliminated from the seashore, her mom experienced no thought the place he was taken. It would not be until finally Shrivastava arrived that they would master Subhash’s body experienced been transported to a funeral dwelling in the nation’s funds, Santa Domingo, which was a number of hrs from their lodge.

Shrivastava mentioned she would like to see changes to the procedures and policies of airline companies to assistance people navigate the aftermath of a crisis though on holiday vacation.

“It was a really terrifying situation that we had been in, mainly because we didn’t know what to do, who to go to, exactly where to go, how to get points performed,” stated Shrivastava.

Air Transat declined an interview with CTV News, but they did deliver a statement.

It reads, “We are unable to dive into details but can after yet again verify that we have performed anything we could to assist this relatives to the best of our qualities, looking at all lawful needs from entities involved, together with regional authorities in the Dominican Republic. Our representatives at the spot were being there to aid the family after this tragic incident and to reveal all techniques and preparations. As a tour operator, we do not have the ability to overrule legal treatments and need to defer to authorities in place.”

Shrivastava mentioned her parents had purchased coverage as a result of Air Transat but was explained to it did not protect this incident.

Elliott Silverstein, director of Federal government Relations with CAA Coverage, stressed the importance of realizing what your coverage covers, and have it geared up in advance of you depart on your trip.

“Not all insurance policies are the very same, so you want to comprehend what it addresses but extra importantly what it doesn’t and what you might need to insert on if you by now have some fundamental protection out there to you,” spelled out Silverstein.

Shrivastava claimed that fortuitously for her moms and dads, they experienced bought vacation coverage that coated accidental death on trip, as aspect of a funeral deal decades back.

Immediately after getting in contact with the Canadian Embassy, her spouse and children organized to have her father’s overall body returned to Canada inside of a few times of his passing to honour religious techniques.

Shrivastava requested to consider her father’s location on the Air Transat flight dwelling with her mother, but reported that request was denied. She resorted to scheduling two tickets with Air Canada so that she could be by her mother’s aspect as they flew back property on the same flight that her father’s casket was on board.

A request to have her parents’ seats refunded on the return flight household was denied.

In a statement to CTV Information, Air Transat stated, “The flights are procured as section of a package deal. Cancelling them is not aspect of our strategies as we refer these cases to insurers.”

Shrivastava needs other people to make confident they know their rights, what their insurance plan handles, and what is available to them if a condition must occur.

Silverstein encourages individuals to prioritize travel insurance as part of their preparations right before heading on holiday vacation.

“What are the pitfalls in the neighborhood that I am heading to, what are the troubles out there, what do I need to have dependent on my have own daily life scenario, do I have present health and fitness problems that I require to be aware of?” explained Silverstein.

Subhash’s overall body was cremated in a religious ceremony in Sarnia. He would have been 71 a long time outdated.
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