Dream Peru trip results in husband dying, wife contracting COVID-19

UPDATE:Ruby Choi and her friends returned to Calgary on April 17.

Ruby Choi thought she was going on a trip of a lifetime when she left Calgary with her husband and friends earlier this month.

Now she's a widow fighting offCOVID-19 in quarantine in Peru, worried about managing her diabetes.

"I don't know what to do, it's just awful. I'm getting crazy," Choi said from her quarantine roomin Lima. "My mind is just so confused."

Now her Chinese-Canadian friends, from whom she's been separated for nearly a week, have been taken off a flight bound for Canada, forced to self-isolate and wait for coronavirus test results.

They've describedtheirinteractions with embassy staff as hostile, and worry they've been treated with extra caution because they're Chinese.

'Just wrong timing'

Hundreds of Canadians are finally leaving the South American country this week on government-chartered flights back to Canada.

Peru locked its borders March 16 to stem the spread of the pandemic, and announced it would not support the repatriation of foreigners.

When Choiand her husband, Chun Pang Choi, left for Peru on March 9, there were no warnings about travelling to the country. They were looking forward to joining two friends fora 10-day tour of the country, including Machu Picchu, aspart of their retirement travels.

"We just like to explore," Choi said. "It's just wrong timing, I guess."

When the border closed, the tour group couldn't easily leave. Choi said they weredirected by the embassy to wait for flight arrangements.

They stayed 10 daysin the small town of Puno, on the shores of Lake Titicaca, isolating themselves in their hotel rooms.

Husband fell ill, died

Then Chun Choibecame weak, struggling to breathe.

"My husband got so sick, so he had no strength, couldn't stand at all," Ruby Choi said.

He was flown by helicopter to the hospital in Lima, where doctors said he was suffering from a lack of oxygen. Ruby said doctors told her he tested negative for COVID-19.

Hedied Sundayat age 67. His wife said doctors told her he died from heart failure.

She, however, tested positive for the novel coronavirus. She's now quarantined under doctor supervision witha dry, frequent cough and fatigue.

Unable to speak Spanish, and now all alone, she misses her husband.

"He isa really quiet person and is quite generous. He doesn't care about little things," she said.

Worries about treatment

The niece of one of her friends who arealso on the tourhas been trying to help Choi navigate the Peruvian health-care system from Calgary. Christina Hagerty, a well-known Calgary real estate agent, has spent days on the phone with officials, a travel agent and Peruvian authorities.

She said she worries becausethe 66-year-old's quarantine room is a villa repurposed for people in COVID-19 isolation. She said it doesn'thave a pillow, toilet paper or diabetic-friendly food.

"So she lost her husband, she's now detained and she doesn't speak the language," Hagerty said. 'I'm very, very afraid that she's just left there."

The key worry for Choi is being able to access a refill of her diabetic medication. She said she was down to her last dose.

"If I don't get my medicine, I'll die," Choi said.

The group has been in contact with the Canadian embassy in Lima, and gave them the number for Choi's doctor, but they say they haven't heard about their medication.

Hagerty said the emergency line for travellers offered little support. Instead, they're relying on a travel agent in Lima to help navigate the country's processes.

CBCNews has askedGlobal Affairs Canada about the situation. A spokesperson declined to comment, stating privacy concerns.

The agency said its emergency call centre responded to nearly 1,800 calls and 5,500 emailsfor help on Wednesday alone.

Friends in quarantine

Hagerty's aunt, Amy Kwai Ling Leung, and her friend, Miu Wan Ling, also ran into trouble Thursday.

They were scheduled to leave on a plane back to Calgary but were pulled aside by Canadian embassy staff, Hagerty said.

Hagerty had cancelled Choi's flight due to the COVID-19 test and need to go into quarantine. Embassy staff then told Leung and Ling also to stay in the country in isolation, she said.

The friends arenot symptomatic andlast sawChoinearly a week ago, and before her positive test, Hagertysaid. So she thinks the two, who speak Cantonese primarily,shouldn't have been held back based on their friend's diagnosis since they parted.

"I think it's because of the broken English and because she's Asian. I really do," Hagerty said.

Hagerty said she has learned that others in the tour, who weren't Chinese-Canadian, were allowed to leave Peru.

WATCH | Canadians stranded in Peru credit fellow travellers, not the government, for getting them home:

Canadians stranded in Peru credit fellow travellers for return home

5 years ago

Duration 2:02

After two weeks of worry and frustration, Canadian tourists trapped in Peru are on their way home and many credit fellow travellers, not the Canadian government, for getting them back.

After multiple calls and emails from Hagerty, embassy staff wrote to the friends late Thursday to say they were trying to get two COVID-19 tests, to eliminate that concern.

"We are engaging authorities at every level and trying to find a solution quickly,"the embassy said in an email provided to CBC News."I am confident that we will find a solution fast. So please do not lose hope."

As of Friday morning, the friends had been tested and were told to stay in their hotel room until April 10or face imprisonment, Hagerty said.

"They're afraid," Hagerty said. "They're afraid for their safety, they don't trust the embassy."

Hagerty and the others now wait to see how the trip that started so wellwill finally come to an end.