On a winter day near Edmonton, a man who spent his working hours balancing other people's accounts was overtaken by a pain that no ledger could hold. Prashant Sreekumar, an accountant and father of three, was brought to Grey Nuns Community Hospital, triaged, and asked to wait in the emergency room, where by his family's reckoning he remained for more than eight hours. Before he was finally called in, the hours had worn his family down to questions about whether a suffering person can be seen in time, and the matter now rests with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which will try to turn
Indian-origin man dies after 8-hour wait with chest pain at Canadian hospital; family demands answers
Prashant Sreekumar, a 40-something accountant and father of three, died after reportedly collapsing in the treatment area following an 8-hour ER wait; his family is devastated.
"Papa, I cannot bear the pain"
Mark
Why is this story drawing so much attention?
Mimi
Because the details are so ordinary and so terrible. A man with chest pain goes to an emergency room, gets triaged, and is still waiting eight hours later. He collapses seconds after being called in.
Mark
What does the family say happened during the wait?
Mimi
That he kept saying the pain was unbearable, that an ECG was done and they were told nothing significant showed, and that his blood pressure kept rising on the nurses' checks.
Luke
I want to flag that all of that is the family's account. The hospital hasn't confirmed or disputed any of it.
Mark
And the video of his wife?
Mimi
She reportedly says his blood pressure hit 210 and that he was offered only Tylenol.
Luke
Hindustan Times says it couldn't verify that video. So the 210 figure and the Tylenol claim are unconfirmed allegations, not established facts.
Mark
What has the hospital said?
Mimi
Covenant Health, which operates Grey Nuns, cited privacy and wouldn't discuss specifics. It offered sympathy and said the case went to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Luke
Worth noting that referral isn't a finding. We don't know the cause of death, or whether the wait contributed. Nothing in the reporting says.
Mark
So what should readers watch for?
Mimi
The examiner's review. It may answer what the family is asking: how someone in that much pain waited so long.
El Pulso
- A sudden chest pain pulled an accountant from his workday and into an emergency room that, according to his family, kept him waiting for more than eight hours.
- Relatives say he repeatedly described the pain as unbearable while blood pressure readings climbed, and an ECG was said to show nothing significant.
- Within seconds of finally being called into the treatment area he collapsed, and the family describes what appears to be a cardiac arrest.
- The hospital, run by Covenant Health, has cited privacy limits and referred the case to the Chief Medical Examiner, which will decide whether triage and waiting times contributed to the death.
- The family's grief is turning into a demand for answers about how severe chest pain could go unseen for so long.
On a winter day near Edmonton, a man who spent his working hours balancing other people's accounts was overtaken by a pain that no ledger could hold. Prashant Sreekumar, an accountant and father of three, was brought to Grey Nuns Community Hospital, triaged, and asked to wait in the emergency room, where by his family's reckoning he remained for more than eight hours. Before he was finally called in, the hours had worn his family down to questions about whether a suffering person can be seen in time, and the matter now rests with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which will try to turn that memory into a record.
Prashant Sreekumar was at work when a sharp pain tore across his chest. A client drove him to Grey Nuns Community Hospital in the Edmonton area, where he was triaged and told to wait in the emergency room. By the family's account, he was still waiting more than eight hours later.
His father, Kumar Sreekumar, recalled his son saying again and again that the pain was excruciating, both to relatives and to staff. "Papa, I cannot bear the pain," he remembered. The family says an ECG showed nothing significant and that he should keep waiting, while nurses' periodic blood pressure checks showed readings that kept rising. A social media video in which his wife narrates the ordeal claims the reading reached 210; Hindustan Times said it could not independently verify it.
When he was finally called into the treatment area, he reportedly collapsed within seconds, in what the family describes as an apparent cardiac arrest. He died there. He leaves a wife and three children, aged three, 10 and 14. Family friend Varinder Bhullar called the loss huge and unacceptable, saying, "We expect better from the hospital and the health-care system."
Covenant Health, which operates the hospital, said privacy rules prevent it from discussing specifics, but confirmed the case has been referred to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and offered sympathy to the family. What happened in those hours still rests on the family's recollection. The medical examiner's review is what may establish the care he received and whether the wait played a part in his death.
Prashant Sreekumar, an accountant, was at work when a sharp pain tore across his chest. A client drove him to Grey Nuns Community Hospital, in the Edmonton area. He was triaged and told to wait in the emergency room. According to his family, he was still waiting more than eight hours later.
The account comes from Global News, which spoke with relatives, and was picked up by Hindustan Times. Sreekumar's father, Kumar Sreekumar, told the outlet that his son kept saying the pain was excruciating, to him and to hospital staff. "Papa, I cannot bear the pain," Kumar recalled him saying.
The family says an ECG was done, but they were told it showed nothing significant and that he should keep waiting. Nurses checked his blood pressure from time to time, and the family says the readings kept climbing. A video circulating on social media, in which Sreekumar's wife narrates the ordeal, claims his blood pressure reached 210 while he sat in the waiting room and that he was offered only Tylenol despite describing the pain as unbearable. Hindustan Times said it could not independently verify the video's authenticity.
When Sreekumar was finally called into the treatment area, more than eight hours after he arrived, he reportedly collapsed within seconds. The family describes it as an apparent cardiac arrest. He died there.
Sreekumar leaves behind his wife and three children, aged three, 10 and 14. His family is devastated and wants to know how a patient with severe chest pain could wait so long without seeing a doctor. Family friend Varinder Bhullar called the loss "huge," and described the incident as shocking and unacceptable. "We expect better from the hospital and the health-care system," he said.
Grey Nuns Community Hospital is operated by Covenant Health. The organisation told Global News it could not discuss specifics of the case because of privacy rules, but confirmed the matter has been referred to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. In its statement, it offered sympathy to the patient's family and friends and said nothing is more important than the safety and care of patients and staff.
What happened during those eight hours rests, for now, on the family's recollection. The medical examiner's review is the next step, and it is the process that may establish what care Sreekumar received, how he was triaged, and whether the wait played a part in his death.
Citas Notables
He told me, 'Papa, I cannot bear the pain.'— Kumar Sreekumar, father, to Global News
We expect better from the hospital and the health-care system.— Varinder Bhullar, family friend
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