The minister responsible for seniors, Sonia Bélanger, decided to transport the sick Béatrice Picard to the emergency room in her official vehicle on Saturday. The arrival of the ambulance would have taken between 60 and 90 minutes, the newspaper Infos Laurentides initially reported.
Posted at 12:04 p.m
“I’m doing very well! Reassure your readers! Sometimes I just forget that I’m 94 years old and overdo it!” she says neatly in a telephone interview with La Presse on Wednesday morning.
On Saturday, Ms. Picard woke up not feeling particularly well. She decided not to go to the first morning conference at the Salon des Aînés de Saint-Jérôme, of which she is godmother, but to take some rest before leaving.
When she got there she felt uncomfortable. She has difficulty breathing and feels extremely tired. Dr. François Marquis, a doctor at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital – who we already knew had the gift of omnipresence – is on site, as are nurses who notice that Ms. Picard needs to go to the emergency room by ambulance.
911 tells them it will take between 60 and 90 minutes.
PHOTO MARCO CAMPANOZZI, LA PRESSE ARCHIVE
Sonia Belanger
The Minister responsible for seniors, Sonia Bélanger, is also present. She announces that her company car can easily transport Ms. Picard to the emergency room. What is being done?
“Getting into the car was a little difficult, but they helped me and it was very comfortable! », notes Ms. Picard, who doesn’t know whether the 90-minute wait could have put her in danger.
“In any case, I am very grateful to the minister for offering her car. I was really having trouble catching my breath. »
Ms. Picard had her vacation on Monday after a bit of insistence, we understand. “We don’t sleep very well in the hospital. And most importantly, I had something to do other than stay in the hospital! »