Her 70-year-old mother suffered a heart attack while on an 8-day cruise in Norway, but God made a way for her to come home

It started off as a joyful 17-day family adventure across Scandinavia. They saw waterfalls that took their breath away in Iceland, explored the city sights in Sweden and Denmark, before hopping onto a cruise to tour the scenic Norway for eight days.

Sarah enjoying the waterfalls in Iceland with her husband and mother.

“But the day before we were about to take the cruise to Norway, I noticed that my mother couldn’t walk far without resting. At times, she was also breathless,” said Sarah Zheng. They were on their annual family holiday which included her mother, her husband, his parents and older brother.

“At first, we assumed it was due to the pace of travel or unfamiliar surroundings,” Sarah told Salt&Light.

Mdm Wee’s first day on board the cruise that toured Norway.

On the second day of the cruise, however, Sarah observed that her 70-year-old mother looked very tired at the breakfast table. She urged her mother to see the doctor on board and sent her to the ship’s medical centre for a review.

Noting that her mother’s arms and legs were bloated, the doctor said it could be a sign of a heart attack as her heart might not be functioning well enough to ensure proper blood circulation.

Blood tests were done. It was confirmed that she had had a heart attack.

Sarah’s 70-year-old mother – Madam Wee Ah Moi – was immediately admitted to the ship’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

“We were shocked to hear about the heart attack,” said Sarah, a counsellor.

“My mother felt like she became a burden to us during our holiday. My fears were triggered as my father had died from a sudden heart attack in 2014, and now we were already out at sea and unable to disembark.”

Rushed to the nearest hospital at the next port of call 

The doctor warned them: “Be prepared that you may have to remain in Norway for some time.”

He added that her mother would need to go to the nearest available hospital the moment the ship reached the next port in Hellesylt – a small village in Norway – the next morning.

Sarah’s family members took turns to accompany her mother in the ICU, with her father-in-law taking the night watch.

“That night was one of the longest I have ever experienced,” Sarah recalled. “It was filled with helplessness, worries and unanswered questions about her condition and which hospital she would be taken to.”

Her mother, however, managed to sleep relatively well that night. She, like the other family members, had been praying about her condition and she felt God give her the assurance that He would take care of her.

Meanwhile, all of their church members in Singapore were sent daily updates about their situation from Sarah’s husband.

“Texts, calls and prayer support poured in from every direction. Though we were thousands of miles apart, we never felt alone. We were carried by the prayers of God’s people,” said Sarah.

Once the ship docked the next morning, the Norwegian paramedics team came onboard to transfer Sarah’s mother onto an ambulance to head to the nearest hospital. The journey took two hours, and included driving up a ferry for a 15-minute boat ride, before Sarah and her mother reached the hospital in Alesund.

“When I was sitting beside my mother in the ambulance, I heard God telling me that He would sustain my mother throughout this journey,” said Sarah, who worships at Bukit Batok Presbyterian Church with her husband. Her mother attends Grace Assembly of God in Bukit Batok.

At the hospital in Alesund, the doctor did an ultrasound scan and showed them the damaged part of the heart. He said that Sarah’s mother likely had a silent heart attack, adding that it is not uncommon for people with diabetes to suffer one without noticing the pain as their pain tolerance is usually high.

Sarah’s mother had no medical history of having heart issues, but she did have diabetes.

Transferred to get specialist care via a medical plane

The doctor also made arrangements for her mother to be transferred to a specialised heart centre – St Olav’s hospital in Trondheim – for better treatment. St Olav’s was quite a distance away, so Mdm Wee had to be flown there on a medical plane the following morning.

That day, Sarah’s in-laws, who continued with the cruise, managed to visit them in the hospital as Alesund was one of the cruise’s ports of call. As a family, all of them prayed together then.

The next morning, Sarah’s mother was transported via an ambulance to the medical plane. Sarah went along for the two-hour journey but her husband had to take an almost seven-hour bus ride as there was only allowance for one companion.

The medical plane that took Sarah and her mother from a hospital in Norway to a specialised heart centre.

Mdm Wee being transported on the medical plane from one hospital to another.

Doctors at St Olav’s continued putting Sarah’s mother on blood thinners and other medication to reduce the stress on her heart. An angiogram scan was done to identify the blockages in her heart.

The scan showed that three vessels in her heart were blocked; her heart was functioning at only 30 percent.

Mdm Wee was treated in St Olav’s – a specialist heart centre – in Norway.

While Sarah’s mother was being taken care of at St Olav’s, Sarah and her husband had to stay at a patient hotel that was connected to the hospital.

“Such hotels give priority stays to hospital patients with less severe medical conditions. Next in priority would go to the companions of patients. It was often fully booked; we had to check out almost daily and wait for a room to open up each day,” said Sarah.

“Yet each day, a room miraculously became available and it was just enough for us. It was a repeated reminder of how God had already made room for us,” she added.

The patient hotel at St Olav’s. A room would miraculously become available for Sarah and her husband every day.

She also had vivid memories of how, on some days, the caring nurses in the hospital encouraged her and her husband to step out for a walk to take a breather while assuring them that their mother was in safe hands.

“They really took the time and effort to ensure we had all the support we needed. Aware that the local cuisine may not suit my mother, they even asked if she preferred rice,” said Sarah.

A hospital meal in Norway. Nursing staff offered Mdm Wee rice, in case she missed Asian food.

When her mother’s condition had stabilised, the Norwegian doctors recommended a bypass surgery to be done either in Norway or back home in Singapore.

“They were quite confident about her being able to make the flight back and they would clear her for it if we decided to do so,” said Sarah.

She preferred that her mother to remain in Norway to do the surgery but the rest, including her mother, felt that returning to Singapore was better as there would be longer-term support available during recuperation. It was also not known how long her mother would need to remain in Norway post-surgery before she could be certified fit to fly back home.

After much discussion and prayer, the family decided to bring Sarah’s mother back to Singapore for the operation.

Mdm Wee with her daughter and son-in-law in St Olav’s hospital.

However, when a doctor in Singapore heard about their decision to return, he expressed his concerns about her mother being at a high risk of having a heart attack during the long 20-hour flight back.

“They were concerned about whether my mother could last the long flight given her age, the level of damage her heart already had, and her history of having stroke and diabetes,” said Sarah.

Doubts about their decision crept in upon hearing these concerns from the medical director in Singapore.  

Making a difficult decision 

They decided to seek a second opinion from the Norwegian doctors and asked the nurses for a consultation with another heart specialist. However, that meeting never happened as there was a miscommunication between them and the nurses.

“I believe that this was God’s gentle way of closing the door that we weren’t meant to enter. We eventually decided to head back to Singapore,” said Sarah.

On their final night before flying back to Singapore, they found out that the patient hotel had no more room for them.

A view of their room at the patient hotel. On their last night in Norway, there was no available room for them in the hotel.

“It was the second confirmation for us that we had made the right decision. It felt like God was lovingly nudging us and showing us that it’s time to go home,” said Sarah, whose mother had stayed for almost two weeks at the heart centre by then. Sarah and her husband slept on reclinable chairs in her mother’s ward that night.

Mdm Wee with a medical staffer from the hospital just before being medically evacuated back home.

Flying home by air ambulance

The next morning, Sarah and her mother left the hospital in a ground ambulance and was then transferred to an air ambulance plane for a medical evacuation flight to Singapore. Her husband had to take a separate commercial flight home.

Sarah’s husband, Daniel, flew back to Singapore on his own on a commercial flight.

The 20-hour journey home involved three pit stops for refuelling, but the doctors did not allow Sarah’s mother to step out of the plane. She was also encouraged to lie down on the patient bed at all times – except meal times when she could sit up – in case of any medical emergencies. Throughout most of the journey, apart from the last leg, Mdm Wee was hooked up to oxygen in the plane. 

The air ambulance that brought Sarah and her mother back to Singapore. It came fully furnished with medical equipment and the medical team on board.

Sarah was worried about her mother, but she knew that many people back in Singapore were covering them in prayer.

“My cell group rostered a person to pray for my mother for every hour of the flight. Another cell group scheduled prayers during the three pit stops. We also had a cell member who helped to track and give live updates on the exact whereabouts of the medical plane throughout the journey,” Sarah told Salt&Light.

Madam Wee was deemed high risk for the 20-hour medical evacuation, yet she stayed calm throughout the flight. Seated beside her was the medical team that was on standby.

During the flight home, one of the air ambulance staff told Sarah: “It’s a blessing that this happened in Norway. Things could have turned out very differently in another part of Europe.”

The staff described the hospitals in Norway as centres of excellence. Sarah herself had experienced the exceptional professionalism and support provided by them.

“They even saved all the relevant medical reports onto a thumb drive and translated the necessary information from Norwegian into English to ensure a smooth handover,” said Sarah.

Apart from their medical excellence, what the air ambulance staff was not aware of was that Norway – in particular, Trondheim – held a special place in the hearts of Sarah and her family. The same group of family members had enjoyed visiting this area in Norway immensely while on holiday nine years ago.

The same group of family members had travelled to Trondheim nine years ago.

“God provided a familiar place for us to return to for my mother to recuperate and for us to rest, so that we did not feel too lost amidst the chaos that was happening. And of all medical specialities, it happened to house a heart specialist centre that my mother was sent to. I believe all these were no coincidences,” said Sarah.

It also helped that the family bought the regular travel insurance for their holiday trip, and they found out much later on that the medical expenses of chartering an evacuation flight could be claimed. 

Trusting God in every critical moment 

Keenly aware of God’s hand in preserving her mother’s life, Sarah began penning down notes in preparation of sharing her mother’s testimony during the return flight home itself.

“I remember when we were in the ship’s ICU, my mother shared with me how she wanted to serve God again but could not do so after she had a stroke. Now, she is able to share her story as a way of encouraging others to trust God in their most critical moments,” said Sarah.

When their flight arrived in Singapore, her mother was admitted to the National University Hospital (NUH) immediately. A less invasive stent surgery was done and she was discharged 20 days later.

A pastor and church member visiting Madam Wee in NUH.

Today, Mdm Wee is still recovering. The level of her heart function remains the same. She is able to walk although she has become much weaker.

Church friends visiting Madam Wee at home after she was discharged from hospital.

“We are thankful for the miracle that she survived and was able to fly back to Singapore safely, even with a damaged heart. We have learnt to trust Him in all circumstances,” said Sarah.

“What we saw as a delay in treatment time because we were out at sea was not His denial. His timing is perfect. When it seemed like there was no way out, He always made a way.”

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