‘Papa, I can’t bear the pain,’ Indian suffers chest pain in Canada hospital for eight hours, dies later

EDMONTON: An Indian who waited for hours at the hospital with chest pain and was not given adequate treatment, has finally died. The incident happened at Edmonton in Canada. Prashant Sreekumar (44) died of cardiac arrest. Days after the incident, Prashant's wife Niharika Sreekumar in a video described the ordeal she faced in the hands of hospital authorities while standing next to her husband's body. The incident happened at Grey Nuns Community Hospital in Edmonton.

‘Prashant had on December 22 complained of severe chest pain. He was taken to the hospital at 12.20 pm. From 12.20 to 8.50 pm, he sat in the hospital complaining of chest pain. His BP was constantly rising. The last recorded blood pressure was 210,' Niharika said in the video.

'Niharika alleged that he was only given Tylenol for pain relief during the entire waiting time for treatment. The hospital authorities said the chest pain was not considered a serious problem. They did not suspect cardiac arrest,' Niharika said.

Niharika said that after waiting for about eight hours, he was taken to the emergency room, but he collapsed there immediately. The nurse came and examined him and said that he had no pulse. Prashant died despite emergency treatment. Niharika alleged that the hospital authorities complained that she was being very rude.

Prashant's father Kumar Sreekumar said that his son told the hospital authorities that he was in a lot of pain. He said that he had checked the ECG and found no problem and asked them to wait again. Kumar Sreekumar said that his son said, 'Papa, I can't bear the pain.' There is a suspicion that Prashant is a Malayali. It has not been confirmed. Meanwhile, the hospital authorities have condoled Prashant's death.

'We offer our sympathy to his family and friends. There is nothing more important than the safety and care of our patients and staff,’ the hospital said in a condolence note.