An elderly woman in her 60s fainted on an international flight heading back to China on March 20. Luckily, a female doctor, Tao Junyu, from the Maternity and Child Care Center of Dongxihu District in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, was on hand to give first-aid and help stabilize her fellow passenger.
A witness, Qiu Zhentian, said they were all on the Air Asia fight FD572 heading for Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan from Don Mueang International Airport on March 20. However, about one hour after the fight took off, an elderly woman suddenly fainted.
Seeing this, her husband cried for help and several flight attendants rushed over, whilst others broadcast an immediate call for any doctors among the passengers to help.
"Later, a female passenger came to help and revived the elderly woman," Qiu added.
The elderly woman, surnamed Wang, is from Xiangyang, Hubei Province. Before the incident, she had enjoyed a package tour with her husband and relatives in Southeast Asia.
According to the information given by Qiu, the female passenger Tao, who saved the elderly woman, is a chief physician in Wuhan.
"I just did what a doctor should do, and I believe, under such circumstances, any doctor would rescue the woman as I did," Tao said in an interview.
"The elderly woman is a diabetic and she had injected insulin and taken hypoglycemic drugs before boarding. However, she hadn't had a meal, so I thought she might be suffering from severe hypoglycemia. Without enough drugs on the plane, I could only carry out some simple first-aid."
"About one hour later, the woman finally woke up and I felt relieved," Tao added.
Tao said diabetic patients are all afraid of hypoglycemia, so she also provided some suggestions for them. For example, they should focus on monitoring their blood glucose and bring snacks such as chocolate, cookies, and glucose tablets with them just in case.
