Dutch Man Dies in Marrakech After Six-Day Wait for Medical Repatriation
Ad van Til, a 72-year-old Dutchman, died in Marrakech after several days of efforts to repatriate him to the Netherlands. His family alleges administrative errors and says medical documents were misfiled by SOS International, the organization responsible for his assistance.
Ad van Til simply wanted to go home to Helmond, in the Netherlands. But the 72-year-old retiree died on Thursday, 8 October, in a Marrakech hospital, after waiting six days for a medical repatriation. His family accuses SOS International of wasting precious time because of administrative errors, Dutch media outlet Omroep Brabant reports.
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Ad was vacationing with his wife at a resort in Marrakech. On 2 October, the day they were due to return to the Netherlands, he experienced severe breathing difficulties. Taken to hospital, he underwent several tests that raised the possibility of lung cancer. Doctors recommended further investigations.
The next day, his family contacted insurer Nationale-Nederlanden, which referred them to SOS International. According to his son-in-law Björn, Moroccan doctors had issued authorization for him to travel under medical supervision as early as Saturday. But the days went by without any transport being arranged.
“We called six to eight times a day,” Björn says. With each call, the family had to repeat the same information, resubmit documents and wait for callbacks that never came.
A 37,000-euro medical flight, but the case remains stalled
On Wednesday, still without a solution, the family found a company themselves that offered medical repatriation for 37,000 euros, with a stated wait of 48 hours. Such transfers can involve a specially equipped aircraft and a medical team.
On Thursday, Ad’s condition suddenly worsened. His kidneys began to fail. Björn then demanded to speak to someone who could unblock the case.
According to his account, the person he spoke to discovered that medical documents sent several days earlier had been filed in the wrong place. “Precious time was lost,” his son-in-law says. A few hours later, Ad died in hospital, with his wife and grandson Ricardo, who lives in Morocco, by his side.
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SOS International expressed its sadness and said it wanted to review how the case was handled with the family. The organization noted that locally issued flight clearance is not enough: its doctors must also assess whether the transfer is safe and necessary. It did not confirm the administrative errors alleged by the family.
After his death, the family faced further difficulties repatriating his body. Björn and his wife returned to the Netherlands on Monday, 12 October, leaving Ad in Marrakech, where funeral arrangements still had to be made. “He would probably have died soon in Helmond too, but at least he would have been home, with his family,” his son-in-law says.
