Niharika Sreekumar is living in a nightmare.
“My tears are dry… My tears are dry, I cry when I'm alone.”
Niharika is demanding justice after her husband died in an Edmonton hospital emergency room after waiting more than eight hours to see a doctor.
Despite her grief, she vows to get to the bottom of it and find out how it happened.
Niharika said she will use the Hindi phrase “Saam Daam Dand Bhed” in her efforts, which means “whatever it takes.”
“Whatever it takes for me to get justice for Prashant, I will fight,” she said.
On December 22, Niharika's husband, Prashant Sreekumar, began experiencing severe chest pain while working. The client took him to Gray Nuns Hospital in southeast Edmonton.
The 44-year-old man checked in and then took a seat in the waiting room. Staff did an electrocardiogram (ECG) to check his heart function, but the family said Prashant was told there was nothing significant and he was told to keep waiting.
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The staff offered Prashant some Tylenol for the pain. The nurses also checked his blood pressure. Niharika said it continued to rise.
“It was the most disgusting feeling of my life,” she said.
Prashant's father Kumar Sreekumar said that when his son was finally called for treatment, he sat down for a few seconds, stood up, put his hand on his chest and died.
The nurses called for help, but it was too late. Prashant died of apparent cardiac arrest.
Global News sent an interview request to the office of Hospitals and Surgical Services Minister Matt Jones and was referred to a post on a social network in which Jones expressed his condolences. He also said the circumstances surrounding Prashant's death will be reviewed jointly by Acute Care Alberta and Covenant Health Alberta. The Ministry will also ignore this check.
Prime Minister Danielle Smith also expressed her condolences social media.
Sarah Hoffman, the NDP's shadow minister for hospitals and surgeries, said it was important to get to the bottom of the situation, stressing that Prashant's experience highlights the emergency wait time crisis and that people have been raising concerns about it for years.
“What concerns me is that some of these actions are intentional: that Daniel Smith and the UCP want people to lose trust in the health care system, that they want us to believe that we will have to pay out of pocket to get quality care,” Hoffman said.
The Alberta Medical Association also expressed concern. The statement said the tragic death will affect many, including members of the medical community. “The AMA remains concerned about the pressure facing emergency care in Alberta and whether the system has enough resources to safely, sustainably and accountably support patients.”
Niharika said her husband never received proper care. She wants people to know he was an immigrant and a proud Canadian citizen. She said Prashant was an excellent provider and a hard worker, which allowed her to stay home and focus on her children.
A GoFundMe The page was created to help with any expenses. Donors raised more than $90,000 in the three days after Prashant's death.
“He was a fantastic friend, an incredibly loving husband and an incredible superhero father to his children,” Niharika said.
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