A 44-year-old man of Indian origin died in Canada after reportedly waiting for over eight hours in the emergency room of a hospital in Edmonton, Canada, despite repeatedly complaining of severe chest pains.
“‘Dad, I can’t take the pain,'” the man’s father recounted his son’s ordeal.
According to a Global News report, the man’s father said an electrocardiogram (ECG) was performed, but the hospital said nothing significant was happening and asked them to wait.
The incident took place at Gray Nuns Community Hospital.
What happened to the man?
Prashant Sreekumar – 44 year old accountant and father of three.
On Monday 22nd December – Sreekumar started experiencing sharp pain in his chest while working and was taken to the hospital by the client. After being triaged, he was asked to wait in the emergency room.
He reportedly continued to wait as the hours dragged on.
The man’s father – Kumar – said nurses checked Prashant’s blood pressure from time to time, but it kept rising. “It went up and up and up. It was through the roof for me,” Global News quoted the father as saying.
After more than eight hours, Prashant was finally taken to the treatment area. “After about 10 seconds of sitting, he looked at me, stood up, put his hand on his chest and just crashed,” Kumar recalled.
‘…can’t take the pain’
According to Global News, Sreekumar’s father, Kumar Sreekumar, said his son repeatedly told family members and hospital staff that he was in extreme pain. “He told me, ‘Dad, I can’t take the pain,'” he said.
Prashant Sreekumar is survived by his wife and three children aged three, 10 and 14. The family sought answers as to how a patient with severe chest pain could be made to wait so long without seeing a doctor.
Gray Nuns Community Hospital is run by Covenant Health. In a statement to Global News, the organization said it could not comment on the details of the case for privacy reasons, but confirmed the matter had been referred to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
He also expressed his condolences to the family, saying: “Our condolences go out to the family and friends of the patient. Nothing is more important than the safety and care of our patients and staff.”
