A Canadian mother of three died in agony while suffering from internal bleeding and waiting seven hours in an emergency room on New Year’s Eve.
Allison Holthoff, a 37-year-old from Nova Scotia, spent hours writhing in pain on the floor of the Cumberland Regional Health Care Center in Amherst while nurses wiped her and asked her husband Gunther questions like, “Is she always like this? “
Staff eventually took care of Allison after she fell screaming into cardiac arrest, only to find she had been suffering from internal bleeding the whole time. Doctors told Gunther that they could operate to save his wife, but that she had less than a one percent chance of survival and that even if she did survive, a “normal life with dignity” was unlikely.
Gunther made the heartbreaking decision not to operate and after he and his three children said goodbye, she died a full twelve hours after arriving at the hospital.
It remains unclear what caused the bleeding. Allison was thrown from a horse in September and has been complaining of back pain ever since. Gunther said the hospital has still not told him the cause of his wife’s death and he is demanding answers.
Allison was thrown from a horse in September and has been complaining of back pain ever since
The Cumberland Regional Health Care Center in Nova Scotia where Allison died
Allison woke up on December 31 complaining of an upset stomach. Her pain worsened as the day wore on, and after taking a bath to calm her body, she lay on the floor, curled up in pain.
Gunther took her to the hospital around 11am and had to carry her to the emergency room because the pain was so severe she could not stand.
“I’ve told the triage nurse and the lady behind the desk it’s getting worse,” he told CTV News. “She was not well and in pain.”
He said after the nurses took urine and blood samples – which proved difficult due to Allison’s agonizing writhing – they were told to sit in a waiting room. Allison was soon in the fetal position on the floor because sitting was too painful.
Gunther Holthoff and his wife Allison. Gunther had to carry Allison to the emergency room because she was in too much pain to walk
Allison, 37, was a mother of three. Her family demands answers after her death
Security guards came by with a cup of water and gave her a blanket, and then she started telling her husband that she thought she was going to die.
“She said, ‘I think I’m dying. Don’t let me die here,” Gunther said.
At around 3pm she was taken to an examination room for the first time and more blood samples were taken.
Holtoff told CTV News he went to the nurses’ table five times to tell staff his wife was in severe pain and they kept turning him away.
After her eyes started rolling back into her head, the nurses asked Gunther if his wife was on drugs, to which he said no. Allison went on to tell Gunther that she thought she was going to die.
Allison lay on the floor of the emergency room waiting area, screaming in pain
A memorial to Allison. The Nova Scotia Board of Health has opened an investigation into her death
By the time it got to about 6 p.m., seven hours after arriving at the hospital, Allison began screaming in pain and begging for help.
Nurses took Allison’s vital signs and found that her blood pressure had dropped and that her heart rate was rapid.
“Everything went fast after that, everyone started to pick up the pace,” said Gunther. “It was the first time I really felt that someone was paying attention to us.”
Eventually, a doctor looked at Allison and gave her pain medication and did an EKG and X-ray. Gunther said he walked away for a moment and when he came back his wife yelled, “I can’t breathe. I have pain. Don’t move me.’
Her eyes rolled back and staff were alerted that she was in cardiac arrest. After attempting to resuscitate Allison three times, doctors informed Gunther of the chances of a successful surgery, and he chose not to operate.
“They had a 1 percent chance of keeping her alive with surgery, but at that point there was little chance she would ever lead a normal or dignified life,” he said.
Doctors said they found Allison was suffering from internal bleeding, but couldn’t determine how or why. Her autopsy has still not been released, even for Allison’s family.
The family has demanded answers, and Nova Scotian politicians have gotten behind them, wanting to know why Allison hasn’t looked after her for so long.
The Nova Scotia Board of Health has opened an investigation into the case, according to the Department of Health and Wellness.
“Unfortunately, I feel like she was neglected and it got to the point where they couldn’t ignore us anymore,” Gunther said.
“We need change, the system is obviously broken. Or if it ain’t broke yet, it’s not far off,” he added. “Something needs to be improved. I don’t want anyone else to go through this.”