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‘They killed my husband’: Wife alleges negligence after Indian-origin man dies after 8-hour wait at Canada hospital
The deceased, identified as Prashant Srikumar, had complained of acute chest pain earlier this week, and taken to a hospital in Alberta, Canada.
The wife of the Indian-origin man who passed away after an 8-hour wait at a hospital in Canada's Alberta, alleged that the hospital had neglected his condition, leading to his death.
The deceased, identified as Prashant Sreekumar, had complained of acute chest pain around 12 noon (local time) on Monday (December 22) earlier this week, his wife said. In a purported video which is being circulated on social media, the wife further said that Srikumar was immediately taken to a hospital in southeast Edmonton.
“He was brought to Gray Nuns Hospital by 12.50, 12.20. He was sitting in the triage from 12.20 onward till about I would say 8.50 onward till about 8.50 in the night,” his wife said, adding that he was sitting there complaining about his pain.
She said that despite his blood pressure constantly rising, the hospital took him inside and prescribed only Tylenol during the entire waiting period. His last recorded blood pressure was 210, his wife alleged. A normal blood pressure for healthy adults is usually less than 120/80 mmHg.
“They said that chest pain is not considered acute problem. They do not suspect a cardiac arrest,” Sreekumar's wife said. “When he came inside, he was asked to sit down. He got up for friction of second and he collapsed. He fainted and the nurse was heard saying that I do not feel a pulse,” she added.
Sreekumar's wife alleged that the hospital administration and the “the employees of Gray Nuns Hospital” had “killed” her husband by not providing timely help. She further said that the security had behaved rudely “instead of addressing the cause”, and added that she would want the matter to be taken to court.
The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday confirmed that the man was Indian-origin, but a Canadian national. “So, obviously the government of Canada should take responsibility in this particular matter,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
What Srikumar's father said
The deceased's father, Kumar Sreekumar, arrived at the hospital after Prashant was taken there by a client. “He told me, ‘Papa, I cannot bear the pain,'” Kumar said, according to PTI news agency.
Kumar said his son had told him and the hospital staff the pain he was experiencing was 15 out of 10. He further said that nurses were taking his son's blood pressure reading from time to time. “It went up, up, and up. To me, it was through the roof,” Kumar said.
Speaking about his son, Kumar said he was “for his family, for his kids.” “Anybody who talked to him said, ‘We don’t know a better than him',” the father said.
