A Pittsburgh family is raising money to bring Carolyn Russel's body home after she suffered a medical emergency during a weeklong trip to the Dominican Republic. Russel became ill just days into the family vacation in Punta Cana, and the family said her condition worsened even as they tried to get her back to the United States for treatment.

Patricia Powell said the trouble began after an excursion to see monkeys. “We went on an excursion to see some monkeys and then on the way back, she threw up,” Powell said. The family believes Russel later suffered a diabetic emergency that sent her into cardiac arrest at the hospital. She remained on a ventilator while relatives searched for a way to move her home.

The case has drawn painful attention because it unfolded far from home and because the family said it did not have the means to solve the problem alone. Deborah Marshall said Russel did not have health insurance, and the family said transport to Pittsburgh could cost roughly $55,000. A GoFundMe launched to cover the expenses said hospital staff had done what they could, but the facility was not equipped to provide the level of care Russel urgently needed.

Powell said the family also tried to get help from the U.S. Embassy, but was sent away with phone numbers for medevac services instead of direct assistance. “No one can seem to be able to help us,” Powell said. That left relatives weighing a daunting bill against a medical crisis that had already pushed them from a vacation into an emergency campaign for money.

On May 12, the family updated the fundraiser to say Russel had died after going back into cardiac arrest. Even after her death, the costs did not end. The family said it still needed financial help to fly her body home, turning a desperate effort for treatment into a final push to bring her back to Pittsburgh.

The tragedy follows other recent incidents involving travelers in the Dominican Republic, including a Survivor Greece contestant injured in a boat accident there, underscoring how quickly a trip can become a crisis once medical care, insurance and transport are out of reach.