Last month, a Winnipeg man received a devastating call from a nurse at the Seven Oaks General Hospital telling him his 99-year-old mother had died. Daniel Nemis said his mother Sophie Nemis was healthy despite her advanced age but had been taken to hospital for a sprained ankle.
Nemis was shocked and started to cry when he received the phone call, he said Wednesday. Nemis told CTV Winnipeg he demanded to know how such a minor injury could lead to his mother’s death.
The phone call then took an unexpected turn.
Nemis said the nurse on the line suddenly changed her tone and said, “Whoops, wrong person.”
As it turned out, the nurse had accidentally called the wrong family and Nemis’ mother was actually alive. The Seven Oaks General Hospital released a statement that said another patient had died that night and the nurse starting her shift had looked at the wrong page in the medical chart to call the next of kin.
Nemis said the nurse apologized profusely once she realized her mistake partway through the phone call. He said that his grief immediately shifted to anger.
“The crying stopped and the screaming started,” Nemis said.
The hospital told CTV Winnipeg in a statement that it has reviewed patient identifier policies with their staff to prevent a similar situation from occurring again.
“The mistake was extremely unfortunate and regrettable,” the statement said. “We are deeply sorry for any grief that was caused, even momentarily.”
Nemis explained how the news of his mother’s death was particularly shocking because she had been so healthy leading up to the sprained ankle. He said his mother lives alone at a care home and that she is extremely independent, even taking public transit by herself.
Nemis’ mother has returned home from the hospital and has been practicing walking again ahead of her 100th birthday on Dec. 3. Nemis said he’s planning a big party to celebrate the milestone.
As happy as he is to have his mother home, Nemis said he will never be able to forget that awful phone call.
“It was terrible,” Nemis said. “I can’t describe it. There’s no other pain to describe that.”
With a report from CTV Winnipeg
