On a December afternoon in Edmonton, a 44-year-old accountant named Prashant Sreekumar felt a pain in his chest so severe that he could no longer bear it, and a colleague carried him to a hospital's doors. What followed, as his family tells it, was a long hours-long sitting in a waiting room, a test whose result seemed to dismiss his suffering, and a quiet absence of the urgency his body was signaling. It is the oldest of human stories made newer by a modern system: a father who came to be near his son, a community that expected better, and an institution now bound by privacy to say little whi
Edmonton Man Dies of Suspected Cardiac Arrest After 8-Hour Wait at Grey Nuns Hospital
A 44-year-old father of three died of suspected cardiac arrest after an eight-hour wait for treatment in a hospital emergency area.
On a December afternoon in Edmonton, a 44-year-old accountant named Prashant Sreekumar felt a pain in his chest so severe that he could no longer bear it, and a colleague carried him to a hospital's doors. What followed, as his family tells it, was a long hours-long sitting in a waiting room, a test whose result seemed to dismiss his suffering, and a quiet absence of the urgency his body was signaling. It is the oldest of human stories made newer by a modern system: a father who came to be near his son, a community that expected better, and an institution now bound by privacy to say little while an official review begins its slow work. The question it leaves is not only what happened in one building, but how much a waiting room can hold before it becomes a place where people are lost.
On December 22, Prashant Sreekumar, a 44-year-old accountant, began to feel severe chest pain while working in Edmonton. A client drove him to Grey Nuns Hospital, where he was triaged and sent to the waiting room.
His father, Kumar, arrived soon after. Kumar says his son told him, "Papa, I cannot bear the pain," and described it to staff as a 15 out of 10. Staff ran an electrocardiogram. The family says Prashant was told nothing significant showed up, that he should keep waiting, and that he was offered Tylenol. The hospital has neither confirmed nor disputed this account.
The hours passed, and Kumar says nurses kept checking blood pressure readings that climbed steadily. More than eight hours after arrival, Prashant was called into the treatment area. After sitting for perhaps ten seconds, he stood, put a hand to his chest, and collapsed. He died of an apparent cardiac arrest, and by his family's account never saw a doctor.
He leaves behind a wife and three children, aged three, 10 and 14. Those who knew him remember a devoted father and a "goofball" who loved to travel with his family. "They took my baby for nothing," Kumar said.
Friends are asking how someone in such pain could wait this long. Covenant Health, which runs the hospital, says it cannot discuss specifics for privacy reasons, though it has expressed sympathy and noted the case is before the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Until that review concludes, the family's account of the wait remains unaddressed in detail.
On December 22, Prashant Sreekumar, a 44-year-old accountant, began to feel severe chest pain while he was at work in Edmonton. A client drove him to the Grey Nuns Hospital in the city's southeast. He was checked in at triage and sent to sit in the waiting room.
His father, Kumar Sreekumar, arrived soon afterward. According to Global News, which first reported the story and was cited by PTI, Kumar said his son told him: "Papa, I cannot bear the pain." Kumar said Prashant described the pain to him and to hospital staff as a 15 out of 10.
Staff ran an electrocardiogram, a test of the heart's function. The family says Prashant was told the result showed nothing of significance and that he should keep waiting. He was also offered Tylenol for the pain. This account comes from the family. The hospital has not confirmed or disputed it.
The hours passed. Kumar said nurses periodically checked his son's blood pressure, and that the readings kept climbing. "It went up, up, and up," he said. "To me, it was through the roof."
More than eight hours after he arrived, Prashant was finally called into the treatment area. Kumar described what came next: after sitting for perhaps ten seconds, Prashant looked at him, stood up, put a hand to his chest, and collapsed. Nurses called for help, but it was too late. Prashant died of an apparent cardiac arrest, the report said. By the family's account, he never saw a doctor.
He leaves behind his wife and three children, aged three, 10 and 14. The family loved to travel together, and they remember him as a "goofball" with his kids. Kumar said anyone who spoke with Prashant told him they knew no better person. "They took my baby for nothing. For nothing," he said.
Family and friends are asking how a man in severe chest pain could be left waiting this way. Varinder Bhullar, a family friend who used Prashant's accounting services, called the death a huge loss for the community and said he was devastated. "We expect better from the hospital and health-care system," he said.
The Grey Nuns Hospital is run by Covenant Health. In an email to Global News, the organisation said it would not discuss the specifics of patient care because of privacy. It did say the case is before the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Its statement offered sympathy to the family and friends and said nothing is more important than the safety and care of patients and staff.
The medical examiner's review is the next step to watch. Until it concludes, the cause of death remains described only as suspected cardiac arrest, and the family's account of the wait has not been addressed in detail by the hospital.
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