Two children were devastated and in disbelief after their mom died while asleep on the plane back home. They had no idea their mother had lain breathless during the eight-hour flight.
Helen Rhodes, 46, was traveling from Hong Kong to the U.K. on Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, with her husband, Simon, and two children, Nathan and Emma. Rhodes returned home to see her parents after two years of living abroad. They also planned to settle back home permanently and start their new chapter as a family.
A family friend recounted that Rhodes was both excited and nervous about the trip. The last time she saw her parents were before the pandemic, per People.
Helen Rhodes was unresponsive
But as the plane reached Frankfurt in Germany, an unresponsive Rhodes alarmed her husband. Someone on the plane tried to revive the mom, but she was already lifeless.
According to Jayne Jeje, a friend who opened a GoFundMe to help the family, the resuscitation "unfolded in front of her children." Per airline protocols, the plane had to land in Frankfurt to remove the body, while the rest of those on board the flight could proceed to their destination.
Rhodes' husband and her kids had to go to the U.K. without her anymore. Reports cited that the family held her on the plane during their last hours together.
The mother, who worked as a midwife, lived in a close-knit community in Hong Kong. She was part of the Tung Chung Mums, which has over 200 members, and was described as the "pulse of the community."
"Women first looked to her if they had a question concerning anything medical related," Jeje said. "Helen always made herself available to help others."
The fundraiser organized by Jeje has, so far, reached £30,335 in under three days. One of the donors was a crew member on the said flight. The cause of Rhodes' death has not yet been released.
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in the U.K. confirmed that it was helping the family of a British national who died on the flight and has gotten in touch with the local authorities.
Mom, who recently gave birth, dies in her sleep
In November, another family was shocked to discover mother-of-two, Amelia Smith, 25, dead on her bed after a normal weekend night with her husband. Tom Mooney, 25, said they went out to eat and watch a movie and were in bed by 11:30 p.m.
By 6:30 a.m., Mooney and their two children were downstairs for breakfast. Two hours later, Mooney wondered why Smith was still in bed and realized that she had died in her sleep.
At the time of her passing, Mooney and Smith had welcomed a newborn just a month before. Per Daily Mail, the mother was admitted to the hospital three months before giving birth for low potassium levels, but the actual cause of her death was not reported.
