Family, officials gather to mourn the life of man who died waiting in an Edmonton ER

The funeral was held for a man who died last week in an Edmonton ER. CTV News Edmonton’s Gates Guarin was there.

Mourners gathered on New Year’s Eve to remember the life of Prashanth Sreekumar, the man who died of an apparent cardiac arrest after waiting several hours in an emergency room.

Prashanth died on Dec. 22 at Grey Nuns Community Hospital in south Edmonton, where he had checked in with chest pains. He had allegedly waited nearly eight hours in the ER before dying.

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

His wife, Niharika, has been vocal in her grief and frustration over what her husband faced that day. On Wednesday, she wore all white – the traditional Hindu colour for mourning – and told gatherers at the funeral home she couldn’t describe the pain she was living with.

“If I am the body, Prashanth is the soul,” she said through tears. “I will cherish and live with the memories I have created with my soul until I meet my soul again.

“This was not the contract I had with Prashanth.”

Prashanth Sreekumar was born in 1981 in New Delhi, India. He held a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Delhi University and completed advanced IT certifications before his move to Canada in the early 2000s. Here, he became a certified professional accountant and began his own business in 2015.

He was remembered in his eulogies from family, friends, coworkers and community leaders as a man who was always looking for his next challenge; ambitious, devout and a loving father and husband.

His wife and friends went on to say Prashanth had been a proud Canadian citizen who had immigrated because of the country’s “excellent public health care, heartwarming multiculturalism and beautiful landscapes.”

His 14-year-old daughter, the eldest of three children, recalled life lessons her father taught her.

“The city only knows his name, but everything I become will carry him. With every achievement, every step forward, every moment of impact, it will trace back to the man who prepared me,” she told the crowd.

Prashanth’s 10-year-old son said he’ll remember three things about his dad: playing games after dinner, his humour and his talent for building Ikea furniture.

Nadeem Chaudhry, a family friend, described Prashanth as a family man, a professional and a very easy person to get along with at work and in social settings.

Government response

Niharika and others supporting her have been calling for accountability from Alberta officials as they believe Prashanth was failed by the health-care system.

Acute Care Alberta, the provincial body overseeing emergencies and critical care, has initiated a review into the death of Prashanth Sreekumar. Covenant Health, the group overseeing Grey Nuns Hospital, has said it will co-operate with the review.

The family had asked officials, including Premier Danielle Smith and hospital services minister Matt Jones, to attend Prashanth’s funeral so they could see how his death impacted those around him.

Smith’s office declined the invitation on Tuesday night, extending condolences to the family, stating the “seriousness of this issue” and reiterating the importance of ACA’s joint review with Covenant Health.

Sarah Hoffman, the NDP hospital services shadow minister, was at the funeral.

“(They) did everything right, his wife, his father, they took him to the hospital, they explained his symptoms, and they waited patiently for so many hours,” she told reporters after the service. “Nobody, no family should go through what they’ve gone through.

“I think (the family) knows that the system is at the brink. At the very beginning, they said that. And I think we all want better for every Alberta family that reaches out and asks for help during the service.”

The case has also been handed to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, according to a statement from Covenant Health.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Gates Guarin and Brandon Lynch