The family of a Saskatchewan woman who died in China last week says they haven’t been allowed to bring her body home until the $250,000 medical bill she incurred there is paid.

Alicia Garlock was teaching in Chengdu, China when she suffered a medical emergency and was rushed to hospital last month. The 38-year-old woman originally from Melfort, Sask. underwent emergency surgery on her lungs and spent weeks in a medically induced coma in the intensive care unit before she died in hospital last week.

It’s unclear what caused the medical emergency, but her family said they believe she contracted an unknown virus.

Her relatives told CTV Saskatoon that Chinese health officials have refused to release her body until her $250,000 hospital bill has been paid.

“Whether you're spiritual or not and you believe in purgatory or not, or anything like that, it almost feels like we're stuck there as well because we can't get any closure,” the woman’s brother, Travis Garlock, said during an interview on Tuesday.

“We won't get any closure until we can actually have a service for her and we won't have a service for her until we can bring her home.”

Although Garlock had medical insurance through her work as a teacher, it’s not enough to cover the full cost of the hospital bill, her brother said.

Travis Garlock said his family has paid for some of the bill, but he hopes they will be able to raise the rest through a GoFundMe fundraising page, savings, loans and potentially help from the Saskatchewan government. He said his sister’s coworkers at the school in China have also raised money for the family.

As of Wednesday morning, the GoFundMe campaign has raised more than $28,000 of its $100,000 target.

Travis Garlock said he’s sharing his sister’s story in order to encourage others working and living overseas to ensure they have enough medical insurance for any emergency.

Alicia Garlock leaves behind her daughter, her parents, her brother, and her partner, who she was living with in China.

With a report from CTV Saskatoon's Jennifer Jellicoe