A Green Country family is trying to bring 17-year-old Gianna Nuckolls home to Sapulpa after her death in Mexico.
The family said the process of getting Gianna medical care was a nightmare and was made worse when they tried to transport her body from a Mexican funeral home.
Family members of Gianna Nuckolls say the worst part was knowing she was boarding the bus home when she had a medical emergency. Had this incident occurred in the United States, Gianna might still be alive.
Gianna spent the summer in Mexico and was about to return home to Sapulpa when she became ill.
“She was at the bus stop, her mother was standing on the first step and she said, ‘Come on, baby,’ and she said, ‘I can’t, I can’t, I can’t move my leg,'” said Gianna’s cousin Sabina Correa.
Shannon Ramsey is Gianna’s aunt. She says doctors in Mexico told Gianna’s mother that she had a brain aneurysm and that Gianna would need surgery.
Then a Mexican doctor told Gianna’s mother that she would have to pay in advance and get authorization from the Mexican police before the operation. But when her mother had everything prepared, the hospital said it was not equipped for the operation and Gianna would have to go to another hospital.
“During the entire process of having to run back and forth multiple times and get several different papers signed and stamped, they said she suffered a cardiac arrest and two strokes at that point,” Ramsey said.
All this was too much for Gianna’s body and she died.
Now her family is working to bring Gianna’s body home so it can be buried.
“We want to give her a proper burial, she deserves it,” Ramsey said.
So they can find out exactly how Gianna died. They want an autopsy here in the United States because they are unhappy with the Mexican authorities. Gianna’s family said an investigation here would bring them peace.
“We are confused because one report says she had a brain aneurysm and the medical examiner who did the autopsy says she had a heart attack. So there is no clarity on what really happened to her,” Ramsey said.
Gianna’s family says they are waiting for funding to pay the Mexican funeral home to transfer Gianna’s body and will then look for an American funeral home to transport her body out of Mexico.
HERE you can help bring Gianna home.
