Bangkok: An 18-year-old woman whose case focussed attention on the poor state of medical care in Cambodia has died after contracting necrosis, a rare form of cell degeneration.
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Soth Rey was working in a massage parlour to support her three younger siblings and parents in the north-west Cambodian town of Siem Reap when she fell ill with a sinus infection in December.
A doctor diagnosed her with the flu and sent her home. Weeks later she developed ulcers in her nose and a doctor decided to pull out some of her teeth.
When that didn't solve the problem, she went to a traditional Khmer healer who spat and blew on the ulcers for a month.
Then Soth Rey's face began to disintegrate.
With her face disfigured by a wide hole, her nose and cheek eaten away, her family took her to Phnom Penh where a group of expatriates, hearing of her plight, raised money for her to be treated at the city's Sen Sok Hospital. She was described as a "young, vibrant woman" who showed incredible bravery as doctors tried to save her life.
Ivan Matela, one of the doctors, confirmed she died from septicaemia and pneumonia on March 25.
"She died with no pain, no suffering, surrounded by the love and care of her sister and medical staff at the hospital who all came to love her," Yulia Khouri, a Canadian living in Phnom Penh posted on Facebook.
