‘Why was she turned away?’ Manitoba woman dies, hours after being sent home from hospital

25-year-old Shandy Rhiann Cook was sent home after hospital staff said nothing was wrong, she later died at home. Alex Karpa reports.

One family is now desperately searching for answers, after they say their loved one was turned away from a Manitoba hospital.

Naturelle Cook’s sister, 25-year-old Shandi Reann Cook, had leukemia.

“She had a hard time breathing,” Cook said.

On Oct. 11, Shandi went to the health centre in Swan River in western Manitoba, after experiencing some difficulties breathing. While in the waiting room, she was coughing up blood.

Cook says Shandi was sent home by hospital staff, after being told nothing was wrong with her.

“My dad said my sister had been crying and saying she was in pain, couldn’t breathe and she was gasping for breath,” she said. “She spent the majority of the night puking up blood ...

“My dad wanted to phone the ambulance, but she didn’t want the ambulance phoned because they were just going to send her home.”

Shandi eventually went to bed, but never woke up.

“My dad told me that he did CPR on her and he tried to revive her, and it hurt a lot knowing that she went to bed right beside him and passed away in her sleep and he woke up to her being gone.”

Pursuing legal action

Cook says her family is now in the midst of legal action against the hospital.

Prairie Mountain Health (PMH), which oversees the hospital in Swan River, said they are currently investigating the incident.

A spokesperson from PMH told CTV News that “due to privacy and confidentiality guidelines, PMH does not comment on patient circumstances.”

Manitoba government aware of incident

Manitoba’s Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara also confirmed Tuesday that a formal review has been initiated.

“I expect that review to be thorough, compassionate, and transparent, and that the family receives clear answers about what happened,” Asagwara said in a statement.

“Every Manitoban has the right to receive timely, respectful care when they seek help. Our government takes that responsibility seriously. We will be following this review closely to ensure lessons are learned and necessary steps are taken to prevent tragedies like this from happening again.”

But Cook wishes it didn’t happen and is now left with many questions.

“Why? Why would they turn her away even though she had trouble breathing?” she said. “She told them that she was coughing up blood. I don’t see why they turned her away. I guess that will always be my question – why.”

‘I am taking it pretty hard’

Cook says it hasn’t been an easy time for her or her family.

In addition to losing her sister, Cook lost her mom, Melissa Cook, in 2022. Her death was ruled a homicide.

Cook says Shandi became a foster parent to care for both her and her younger sister.

“I looked up to Shandi as my mom after she got her foster care license and she got me and my little sister under her care,” she said. “I lost my mom in 2022, and now I lost my other mom in 2025.”

Shandi was 25 years old and leaves behind a five-year-old son. Cook says she won’t stop searching for answers until there is justice for her sister’s death.

“If your relative is complaining about pain or coughing up blood, then fight for them,” she said. “Don’t let them send them home, because they could meet the same fate as my sister.”