US Woman’s Honeymoon Turns Into Nightmare as Mystery Illness Triggers Life-Threatening Collapse in Japan

A US woman’s life was completely flipped while she was on her honeymoon in Japan due to an unexpected “life-threatening health decline.” Less than a day after the American couple arrived in Tokyo on April 8, Sarah Danh and her husband, Luke Gradl, the newlyweds' holiday took a drastic turn.

The month before, they had tied the knot at their “dream wedding” and Dahn, 27, had shown no obvious signs of illness. She started “suffering” from various odd symptoms on the second day, such as fever, body aches, vomiting, and jaundice.

Gradl, 28, who told PEOPLE about the incident and claims that his bride was also showing symptoms of extreme hepatic encephalopathy, a liver disease-related loss in brain function. It happens when the liver is unable to filter harmful substances from the blood, which accumulate and have a devastating effect on the brain.

Most of the patients either stop responding or enter a brief coma. The condition can be fatal in the worst circumstances. After being taken to the hospital, doctors found that the US woman had high intracranial pressure in addition to acute liver failure and failing kidneys.

Le Le, her mother, went from America to Japan to offer “moral support.” Additionally, Gradl ensured that Rob, Danh’s brother and a cardiologist, was fully informed of the circumstances.

"[Rob] has been in this fight with us since the beginning. I have informed him of all blood work, treatments, medications, and dosing," the groom told PEOPLE.

"He has been working tirelessly, being on all status calls that we have with the doctors here in Japan, so that he is up to date on anything and everything. Without him, we would be lost on the medical side of things,” he added.

He went on, "Due to the time difference, he is usually up until 2 or 3 in the morning, making sure he is receiving all updates, on top of having to spend time with the family and performing his normal duties as a cardiologist."

According to her husband, the US woman, Danh, a labor and delivery nurse, received “24/7 CRRT (continuous renal replacement therapy), dialysis, blood transfusions, and plasma exchanges” in Japan.

Fortunately, doctors determined last week that Danh was stable enough to go back to the United States. Even though she boarded an emergency medical evacuation flight on April 21, doctors are still baffled by the horror that transpired and do not know what caused her sudden decline.

Additional medical examinations and tests are planned for the US woman at home in San Antonio, Texas. "Thank you to HCA Healthcare and Methodist Hospital for providing the medical flight home. That generosity means more to us than we can put into words,” the couple told PEOPLE in their most recent update.

Danh and Gradl also stated that they are “beyond grateful” to everyone who contributed to the $175,274 GoFundMe page that was created while she was undergoing treatment. "Whether we know you personally or you reached out from somewhere far away, your kindness, prayers, and support helped carry us through one of the hardest times in our lives," they said.