A Winnipeg family is grieving the loss of a mother and sister remembered as someone who could make “everyone and anyone laugh” after she died waiting hours in the emergency room last month.
Stacey Ross, 55, died on Jan. 16 after her family said she waited 11 hours after being admitted to the emergency room at St. Boniface Hospital.
“I find even in bad situations, she could still make everyone and anyone laugh and always brighten the room when she entered it,” said Morgan Ross, Stacey’s daughter, in an interview Monday. “It’s been really hard. I think my entire life has completely changed, and everything I do is different now.”
Sheri Ross told Global News in an interview on Monday her older sister had been feeling unwell since the end of November with what Sheri thought was a “really bad virus.”
Stacey did not work for most of December, then returned to her job as an educational assistant in January.
“She had a lot of trouble making it through the day,” Sheri said.
She went to the emergency room on Jan. 4 for a bad cough, trouble breathing and chest pain.
“She thought maybe she was having a heart attack. She didn’t know, so she went to emergency and she waited for 12 hours and then they sent her home,” Sheri said.
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Documents reviewed by Global News suggested Stacey may have been suffering from possible low grade viral myocarditis, though the family is unsure if she received any tests. She was eventually sent home without medication.
Her pain continued after being discharged, according to the family. She visited her doctor twice between Jan. 4 and Jan. 16, who said to “ride it out as part of the virus.”
“She was worried about herself,” Morgan told Global News. “She knew something was wrong and she did every action to make it right and feel better and there was nothing more that she could have done than what she already did.”
While at work on Jan. 15, she was sent by ambulance to St. Boniface Hospital.
Sheri says she spent about three to four hours with Stacey, during which time no one came and saw her in the waiting room. She had to leave for an appointment, but it wasn’t until about 9:30 p.m. that Stacey texted saying she got a room.
At about 11 p.m. that night, Sheri and Morgan received a call to go in.
“When we got offered to go see her, we saw her attached to like five different machines and it was the most dreadful thing you could ever see your mom be in,” Morgan said. “That time when I saw her, she said, ‘Don’t cry Morgan, I’ll be OK,’ and that ‘they’ll fix me.’”
Morgan said she had to leave the room for about an hour and when she returned her mom could barely speak or raise her hand to hold her daughter’s.
“She could hardly even do that and in that time, things were starting to escalate and she got really bad and I got pushed out of the room and that was the last time I saw my mom, and she died,” she said.
Stacey’s family told Global News they received an autopsy report, which showed she died of coronary artery disease. The disease’s common symptoms of chest pain and shortness of breath come from a lack of blood flow to the heart, with the Mayo Clinic noting a complete blockage can cause a heart attack.
The family is now calling for change, urging people be seen immediately if they’re coming in saying they think they’re having a heart attack or other serious health issue.
Sheri said St. Boniface Hospital told her an investigation will take place, but has heard little more from the hospital or the province.
Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said on Tuesday a critical incident investigation has been launched.
“The family … has really important questions that they need answers to,” Asagwara said.
Asagwara expressed hopes to speak with the family on Tuesday, adding incidents like what the Ross family went through are “not acceptable.”
However, Sheri said Monday the family found out about the probe from the news as opposed to being informed by the province, raising further questions about communication. She said Tuesday that Asagwara confirmed they would visit the family.
“I don’t want this to happen to somebody else, to another family, because it’s just heartbreaking,” Sheri said.
—with files from Global News’ Vasilios Bellos
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