Tippy Dos Santos details mom's tragic death: 'It was a nightmare'
Host-actress Tippy Dos Santos revealed the details of her mother's death, calling it a nightmare.
In an interview for TV Patrol, Tippy shared the details of her parents' accident who were on vacation in South Korea.
According to Tippy, her parents, Happy and John, took a red-eye flight from the Philippines on Friday, Dec. 26, to South Korea. The two arrived in Incheon around 4 a.m. An hour later, they got into an airport transfer.
Fate took a sharp turn when the vehicle carrying her parents got into an accident while on their way to the hotel. As per Tippy, her parent's car was hit by a construction vehicle.
"I was asleep and my dad started calling me. I remember it [phone] was just vibrating and I answered and he just told me na your mom and I got into an accident. They were just waiting for an ambulance and I remember he told me that he was not sure that my mom was breathing," Tippy recalled when she got a call from her dad right away when the accident happened.
Together with her aunt and her aunt's husband, who are both doctors, Tippy immediately booked a flight to South Korea. She told the media outlet that her dad suffered five to six fractured ribs and minor abdominal injury/trauma, while her mom suffered rib bleeding, fractures, and a head injury.
"She was unconscious and 'yung katawan niya, you can see that it was badly injured. But what was most heartbreaking the first time I saw her was how she's not responsive and her tongue was just out and she was on a ventilator. That was just the most heartbreaking thing to see and the doctors told us that she had a respiratory arrest and that's why she was unable to breathe for a time. That's why she was in a coma," Tippy emotionally shared.
It was on the morning of Dec. 30 when the doctor told the family that their mom was not breathing for nine seconds. Although they were able to revive her, the doctor said, her blood pressure was "really down."
"But on the morning of the 30th, Saturday, my sister got a call that we are being called to go to the hospital. As soon as possible. When we arrived at the hospital, they said that my mom, her pulse was going down and nag-stop na 'yung breathing niya for nine seconds. But that they were able to revive her, but her BP was really down," she said.
Tippy continued, "For that, they just told us that her pupil was dilated already at 5 a.m. incident na 'yun, and that was really no hope for her."
Sad news came at exactly 11:47 a.m. on the 30th when Tippy's mom was pronounced dead due to a traumatic brain injury.
"This is just really a nightmare for everyone. It's like a pain no one can explain or can be able to describe to express," she expressed adding that her mom was "full of life and that no one in her family is ready to lose her."
"My mom was full of life and none of us are ready to lose my mom. How I wish we had just more time para makapagpasalamat at makapagsabi na mahal namin siya."
The actress plans to bring her mom home to the Philippines before her birthday on January 5.
Meanwhile, the report also said that Tippy's mom was asleep when the accident happened while seated in the passenger seat at the back of the car and adequately belted.
Local authorities are still investigating the accident.
"We cannot disclose the investigation right now, but they're doing everything they can to help and get to the bottom of what happened to my mom," Tippy said.
'Indescribable' loss
Happy's husband, John, announced the news of the tragedy through her social media accounts, detailing that she passed away at 58 years old on Dec. 30 due to the injuries she suffered from the accident.
"She fought for her life, but in the end, the Lord decided to bring our beloved Happy home," John's message read.
He continued, "The hurt of this loss to our family is indescribable and we will miss her every single day. As her husband, the light of my life and the light of my world was extinguished. As for my daughters, they have lost the most caring and loving mother any child could ask for."