Denver man dies after getting sick during Dominican Republic vacation

DENVER -- A Denver man has died after falling ill while vacationing in the Dominican Republic, his family said Wednesday.

Khalid Adkins had traveled to the Dominican Republic with his daughter last week.

On Sunday, when Adkins tried to fly back to the U.S., he was dripping with sweat and vomited in the plane’s bathroom, according to his sister-in-law, Marla Strick. Adkins was then forced to disembark.

Adkins was hospitalized in the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo. His family has set up a GoFundMe account to help cover expenses.

Strick spoke to KDVR on Tuesday, before Adkins death. "They transferred him to Santo Domingo and that his breathing is really bad and that his kidneys were failing," she said.

Doctors told the family at the time that they could try to find dialysis in Santo Domingo or take him to the U.S. via air ambulance. An air ambulance flight to the U.S. costs an estimated $20,000.

Adkins' daughter had already returned to Denver when her father got sick.

Adkins' family members say they were having difficulty communicating with staff at the hospital, and were still unsure of a diagnosis as of Tuesday evening.

"He said his leg started to swell and that’s why he couldn’t get up. And he started sweating and vomiting. He is just yelling and in pain, so he couldn’t talk to me," Strick said Tuesday.

Dominican government officials have said the number of deaths is not unusual and that they are not related.