Argentine Teen Goes Into Coma While in Dominican Republic

Wire Service
By Wire Service
June 25, 2019World News
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Argentine Teen Goes Into Coma While in Dominican Republic
A 15-year-old Argentinian girl , Candela Saccone, traveling to Dominican Republic with her family fell ill and was diagnosed with diabetic cetoacidosis. (Courtesy of Saccone Family via CNN)

A 15-year-old Argentinian girl has gone into a coma during a family vacation to the Dominican Republic.

Candela Saccone and her family traveled to Punta Cana on June 12 and were scheduled to return home on the 19th.

However, the morning they were supposed to leave, the teen started feeling dizzy, dehydrated, and nauseous—which prompted her family to take her to a medical center—according to the child’s mother, Natalia Knetch.

The girl’s doctor—Freddy Contín —confirmed to CNN that Saccone was diagnosed with diabetic ketoacidosis.

Knetch told CNN that the family was surprised since—according to her—Saccone had never been diagnosed with diabetes and their family has no history of the disease.

The teen was transferred from Punta Cana to the Plaza De La Salud general hospital in Santo Domingo because—according to the Argentine foreign ministry—the first medical center “Did not have sufficient equipment to treat her.”

Dominican health minister Rafael Sánchez Cárdenas told CNN that the minor is “Under control in a good-level hospital center” and that they await her prompt recovery.

Despite what happened to her daughter, Knetch says the island is not an unsafe place and she is thankful to the staff at the hospital where her daughter is currently being treated.

The most recent American to die in the Dominican Republic, died from respiratory and heart failure after a long history of related-health problems, the country’s Attorney General’s office said, citing a preliminary autopsy report.

Caruso had suffered from hypertension, heart disease, and pulmonary disease for a long time, the office said.

Caruso is the 10th known American to die in the Dominican Republic in the last year.

Caruso had been battling hypertension for nine years, and had a long history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the attorney general’s office said.

New and previous heart attacks were detected by the autopsy, the office said. Caruso was a smoker and drank alcohol, per the autopsy results.

The entrance to the Excellence resort is seen where according to family members a tourist died unexpectedly on June 10th
The entrance to the Excellence resort is seen where according to family members a tourist died unexpectedly on June 10th after getting sick in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, on June 20, 2019. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The FBI has a team in the Dominican Republic assisting with the toxicology tests of three of the 10 known American deaths.

Some of those deaths could be related to alcohol. The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Punta Cana, where two of the deaths occurred, said Sunday it would remove liquor dispensers from guest room minibars.

2019-CNN

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