A Canadian mother of three died in pain at a Nova Scotia hospital after waiting in the emergency room for nearly seven hours on New Year’s Eve. Now, her husband, who is now a widower, wants to know what happened.
Gunther Holthoff told reporters earlier this week that his 37-year-old wife, Allison, complained of what she thought was an upset stomach when she woke up on December 31.
He said that Allison had fallen off her horse in September and had been in pain ever since, according to CTV News.
Her condition got worse during the day, and after she took a bath, she was writhing in pain on the floor.
Holthoff drove Allison to the Cumberland Regional Health Care Center in Amherst. They got there just after 11 a.m., and he carried her into the building on his back because she couldn’t walk.
The husband then got a wheelchair and rolled his wife into the emergency room. He said that the pain was so bad that she was having trouble sitting up.
He said, “I did tell the triage nurse and the woman at the desk that it was getting worse.” “She wasn’t in good shape and was hurt.”
Allison’s blood and urine were taken by hospital staff, which her husband said was hard to do because she was in so much pain.
Allison was told to sit in the waiting room, but her condition got so bad that she had to lie in a foetal position on the floor. While they waited for a doctor to see Allison, security guards brought her some blankets and a cup of water.
Holthoff said that his wife then started telling him she thought she was going to die.
“She told me, ‘I think I’m going to die. “Please do not let me die here,” he said on Monday.
At 3 p.m., the Holthoffs were finally taken into an exam room, where the patient gave more blood samples.
Holthoff said that he went to the nursing desk five times and told staff members that his wife’s condition was getting worse. He said that one of the nurses asked him if Allison was “always like this.”
Then, Allison’s eyes started rolling back in her head. The nurse asked Allison’s husband if the married mom was on drugs, and he said “no.”
Holthoff remarked Allison kept saying that she thought she was going to die.
At 6 p.m., nearly seven hours after the Holthoffs first got to the hospital, Allison started screaming in pain and pleading for help.
When another nurse came in to check on her, her pulse was high and her blood pressure was low.
“After that, everything moved quickly, and everyone picked up the pace,” the husband said. “That was the first time I felt like someone was actually paying attention to us,” she said.
Allison finally saw a doctor that afternoon for the first time. She was given fluids and painkillers through an IV. Then, they gave her an EKG and took her to an X-ray room.
Holthoff stepped away for a moment, and when he came back, he said, his wife was screaming, “I can’t breathe!” I’m in pain. “Please don’t move me.”
Allison’s eyes rolled back into their sockets again, and a “code blue” was called to tell the medical staff that a patient was having a cardiac arrest.
Holthoff says that Allison was brought back to life three times, but it was decided not to operate on her because the chances of her surviving an operation were low given her condition.
Holthoff said that a doctor told him that a CT scan showed that his wife was bleeding inside her body but that the source of the bleeding could not be found.
Holthoff said, “They had a 1% chance of keeping her alive with surgery, but at that point, she didn’t have much chance of ever having a normal or dignified life.”
Allison was officially pronounced dead at 11:30 p.m., 12 hours after she first went to the emergency room. Her husband and his three children said their last goodbyes to her.
After more than a week, Holthoff told Cbc.ca that he still doesn’t know what caused his wife’s death because the autopsy report hasn’t been made public.
“Unfortunately, I Do Feel Like She Was Neglected, and They Couldn’t Ignore Us Anymore,” the husband of the woman who died told reporters.
In the wake of the tragedy, the woman’s family and several Nova Scotia politicians have asked the province’s government to explain why the patient’s medical care was delayed for hours.
The Nova Scotia Health Authority has started an investigation to find out what happened in Allison’s case, the Department of Health and Wellness said on Monday.
“We need change because it’s clear that the system is broken.” Or, “If it isn’t broken yet, it won’t be for long,” said Holthoff. “Something Has to Get Better.” “I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”
Read More
- Amber Heard Is Appealing Her Ex-husband Johnny Depp Defamation Case Loss
- Baltimore Police Identify The Man And Woman Killed Last Week