A beach vacation took a frightening turn for an Edmonton family, made worse by the fact that all hospitals in Alberta’s capital were too busy to help.
It all started when Curtis Stock and his family went to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for a 10-day vacation.
While in the Mexican resort area, his 25-year-old daughter Maya begins to feel ill.
“On the second day, Maya complained of pain in her leg. We took her to a doctor at the resort and the doctor looked at her leg and rushed her to Puerto Vallarta Hospital,” Stock told CTV News Edmonton.
The pain turned out to be a flesh-eating disease called necrotizing fasciitis.
Stock said doctors told Maya that if the bacteria spread to her bone, she could lose her leg or even die.
“She was so good and so happy the day before and for her to change so quickly was amazing,” he recalled.
An air ambulance was on standby so Maya could be flown back to Edmonton for emergency surgery, but Stock said that didn’t happen because the family was told there was no hospital space for her.
Stock returned to Edmonton while Maya’s mother stayed with her.
Due to patient confidentiality, Alberta Health Services would not comment specifically on the case, but a spokesperson said patients can only be transferred home if there are resources available to care for them.
“When a family requests an out-of-country transfer, and provided the patient is stable enough to be transferred, we will do our best to work with the family and health insurance providers to repatriate the patient to Alberta,” wrote Kristi Bland of AHS in statement.
“However, an AHS facility can only admit if it has the resources available to provide care. Our hospitals continue to experience significant capacity challenges due to the continued rise in respiratory illnesses and the number of patients needing to be admitted for care.”
Maya ended up having three surgeries on her leg in Mexico. Doctors removed the bacteria to prevent it from spreading, Stock said.
He knew the hospitals in Alberta were busy, but he couldn’t believe there wasn’t room for his daughter to have the surgeries in Edmonton.
“The easy part should have been getting her to hospital, but there wasn’t a single bed in Edmonton that would take her,” he said.
“Disbelief, you just can’t believe it’s possible. She was sick. He also had pneumonia.’
He can’t wait for his daughter to come home and said that will probably happen in a few days after Maya is released from the hospital.
Stock said it’s an important reminder to get travel insurance, but shook his head in frustration and said, “Obviously nothing can be done,” when asked about the state of Alberta’s hospitals.
With files from Jessica Robb of CTV News Edmonton
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