Coronavirus: Former Dubai teacher dies of COVID-19 in US aged 33
Dania Akl, originally from Lebanon, was due to get married in August
Dubai: A former Dubai teacher-turned-nutritionist has died of coronavirus in the US. Dania Akl was 33 and was due to get married in August.
Her untimely demise has plunged her friends and relatives into mourning with many struggling to come to terms with the tragedy.
Originally from Lebanon, Dania passed away in a Florida hospital on March 27 after losing her battle to the pandemic that has so far claimed more than 32,000 lives including nearly 2,500 in the US.
She was a teacher at a British Curriculum school in Dubai until August 2010 when she relocated to the US, acquired American citizenship and became a nutritionist.
According to her family, Dania had been in self-quarantine in her parent’s house in Florida since February 26 when she returned from a business trip to Spain.
She showed no symptoms but on March 2 she suddenly started experiencing fever and shortness of breath. Worried, Dania rang up her local hospital but was reportedly advised to use a nebuliser.
“As her condition worsened over the next few days, Dania called the hospital several times. Each time she was told to self-medicate and remain calm,” said a family friend.
“On March 20, she rang up the hospital one last time saying that her vision was blurry and she was about to pass out. That’s when they eventually sent an ambulance and rushed her to the hospital. But it was too little too late. She died within a week,” he added.
“No parent should ever lose a child in such a manner nor find out the way we did,” Dania’s dad, Roy Akl, a medical doctor by profession, said in a message to Gulf News.
Family remained unaware of death
The family said they remained unaware of Dania’s death until they called the hospital to check on her.
“Hello yes, your daughter passed away 18 hours ago and she’s currently at the hospital morgue. Someone will contact you with details regarding body collection,” said Roy, recounting his conversation with a hospital staff.
“This is the time where it doesn’t matter who you are, what you do, what race you are and how old you are. This is the time where we should just see each other as fellow humans. I lost my child at the age of 33 – a woman who, by all definitions, fit and healthy, is gone because of a virus. I lost my loving caring, adventurous little girl to a virus that I myself as a doctor couldn’t and wasn’t allowed to treat,” Roy said.
Dubai friend mourns loss
Dania’s UAE-based friend Layal Charara, 28, said she’s devastated. “I have been lying on my bed and bawling my eyes out since the time I heard this terrible news from a mutual friend,” said Charara, a digital marketing account manager in Dubai.
“I met Dania for the first time in a mall in Dubai many years ago when I was asking for directions to a store. We struck instant rapport and became good friends,” recalled Charara, also from Lebanon.
“She was the sweetest and most caring person I have met. She wanted to change the world by instilling healthy eating habits among children. She believed that if children were given food that nourished their body and brain, they would grow up as healthy adults. Her death is a great loss as she would have changed the world one child at a time,” said Charara, fighting back tears.
We are still in shock
Another friend, Sian Harrelson from California said she’s still in shock. “Dania had so many dreams. She wanted to go to the Maldives, have her wedding in August, build school in Laos and other less fortunate countries, but her lungs failed her due to the coronavirus,” said Harrrelson.
“We lost a good friend who was always helping us and pushing us to be strong. We lost an ambitious soul,” she said.
Dania is survived by her parents, two brothers and a sister. Her mother is a lawyer in the US.
(Gulf News is respecting Dania’s parents’ wishes of not publishing her picture)