A 44-year-old father-of-three died in the waiting room of an Edmonton hospital emergency room, leaving his family grieving.
On Monday, December 22nd, Prashant Sreekumar started experiencing severe chest pains while at work.
A customer drove Sreekumar to Gray Nuns Hospital in southeast Edmonton, where he was triaged and sat in a waiting room. His father, Kumar Sreekumar, arrived soon after.
“He said to me, 'Daddy, I can't stand the pain,'” Kumar said.
“I'm in so much pain.”
Kumar said his son told him and hospital staff that his pain was rated 15 out of 10. They conducted an electrocardiogram (ECG) test to check his heart function, but the family said Prashant had no serious symptoms and was told to wait.
Staff also gave Prashant Tylenol to ease the pain.
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He waited, and waited some more.
Kumar said that over time, a nurse would check Prashant's blood pressure.
“It just kept going up and up and up and up. It was like going through the roof for me.”
More than eight hours passed before Prashant was called to the treatment area.
“After sitting there for maybe 10 seconds, he looked at me, stood up, put his hands on his chest and just crashed,” Kumar said.
“At that moment, he died.”
A nurse called for help, but it was too late. Prashant died of apparent cardiac arrest.
Prashant leaves behind his wife and three children aged 3, 10 and 14. The family loved to travel together and Prashant said he was “at his own pace” with his children.
“He was for his family, for his children. He was very kind. Everyone who talked to him said, 'There's no one better than him,'” Kumar said.
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Family and friends are demanding answers as to how a man suffering from severe chest pain could have fallen in such a shocking way.
Varinder Brar, a family friend who had planned to use Prashant's accounting services, said it was a huge loss to the community. He is shocked by what happened.
“We expect to see improvements in our hospitals and health care systems,” Buehler said.
“This shouldn’t happen to anyone else in our community.”
Gray Nuns Hospital is operated by Covenant Health.
The group told Global News in an email that it would not comment on specifics about patient care, citing privacy reasons, but said the case was with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
“Our hearts go out to the patient's family and friends. Nothing is more important than the safety and care of our patients and staff,” the statement said.
While the family tries to remember all the good things Prashant brought to them, they say they will always remember how Prashant died in agony in the hospital without seeking medical attention.
“They took my baby for free. Free,” Kumar said.
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