The Raptor

We have a great place in Culver City we like, JR's BBQ. We've had lunch there many times. It's owned and run by a really nice Black family. We've gotten to know then pretty well. Great people! The last time I was there, a couple of weeks ago, Bob, the owner was pretty broken up. He had just buried his favorite nephew who died under mysterious circumstances in the Dominican Republic, as a tourist, apparently of complications from pneumonia, after a transfer to a "better hospital."

zeroptzero

OMG, reading this right now sends chills down my spine.

My wife and I vacationed in Punta Cana (DR), we stayed at a brand new 5-star hotel, we weren't looking for some cheap vacation, it cost us a pretty penny to go to that resort, despite many people going to DR for a cheap vacation.

I developed some form of pneumonia down there and definitely had fluid in my lungs. We were there in the middle of summer, not your typical bustling winter vacation time when you might have some kind of cold or flu before going there. I did get treatment on the resort by the resort doctor and they were very effective and helpful, but my lungs were filling up fast before that. I was finding it very hard to walk as I could not breathe and I would get dizzy as I walked. They did suggest that I transfer to a hospital in DR but I said no way, I was going back home. A few months after our trip a large number of tourists were dying in DR unexpectedly, and many had fluid in their lungs upon autopsy. Many tourists from US , Canada, Europe were dying. It became quite the news stir as so many tourists were dying there with no explanation. I never heard of them finding a cause for the mysterious deaths. I certainly experienced it and I was lucky to get out of that god-forsaken country. I have not heard of what may have been causing it, my personal opinion was that it was some kind of chemical treatment for mosquitos, as you could see the mosquito trucks fogging the place every evening and they still use banned chemicals there. There was also an issue with "hooch" alcohol being filled into brand name alcohol bottles, so corruption of alcohol was rampant. No idea, but damn it was very scary. Thanks for posting this, as I was sure that I experienced what many others had experienced in that country, but I was lucky to come back home safely.