Whitehorse Daily Star

Inquest begins into Watson Lake woman’s death

The inquest into the death of Mary Johnny began Tuesday in a Whitehorse courtroom with testimony from her mother, son, and several nurses who cared for her in Watson Lake.

By Rhiannon Russell on October 15, 2014

The inquest into the death of Mary Johnny began Tuesday in a Whitehorse courtroom with testimony from her mother, son, and several nurses who cared for her in Watson Lake.

The 60-year-old died of a bowel obstruction and severe dehydration on Aug. 9, 2012.

She’d spent six days at the Watson Lake hospital, admitted with nausea, vomiting, severe dehydration and abdominal pain, before being medevaced to Whitehorse General Hospital.

The coroner’s report, released last summer, stated she was misdiagnosed with alcohol withdrawal.

It was only after three days in hospital that Johnny’s abdominal pain was investigated and X-rays were ordered.

“Even then, the finding of dilated loops of small bowel did not result in further investigation or intervention,” the report stated.

By the time she arrived in Whitehorse, she was suffering from shock and organ failure. A CT scan confirmed she’d been suffering from a bowel obstruction.

Yukon chief coroner Kirsten Macdonald called an inquest into her death in November 2013.

“I was watching the public interest, and there was some misinformation out there and obviously some lingering questions and concerns from the family and from the community, so I decided to call an inquest,” she told the Star at the time.

B.C. coroner Norman Leibel is presiding over the week-long proceedings.

The day began with jury selection – five women and one man – and testimony from several witnesses, including Johnny’s mother, Eva, and nurses who cared for Johnny while she was in hospital at Watson Lake.

The Johnny family’s lawyer, Jenny Cunningham, first passed a framed photo of Johnny to the jury members. She was a Kaska woman who had attended the residential school in Lower Post, B.C.

After her daughter was admitted to hospital in Watson Lake on Aug. 3, Eva went to visit her twice. She recalls Johnny complaining of stomach pain.

She tried to convince her daughter to go to Vancouver for treatment, but Johnny wouldn’t hear of it.

“You’re not a doctor,” she told her mom.

Eva said she had no contact with any of the nurses nor the doctor while at the hospital in Watson Lake. She received a call from Dr. Said Secerbegovic, who told her to get to Whitehorse, and that Johnny was being medevaced.

When Lee Kirkpatrick, one of the lawyers representing the coroner’s service, asked if she remembered seeing her daughter in Whitehorse, with machines on her chest, Eva choked up and bowed her head.

She said she recalled telling the nurse to have the doctor “check her up real good before they pull the plug.”

Johnny’s son, George Morgan, took the stand next. He said his mother was a “raging alcoholic” who would start her day with a drink.

“She would run herself down physically to the point where it was scary,” Morgan said.

Once or twice a year, she’d go to hospital, staying for a week or so, in what he called “respite.”

“I thought it was just one of her normal respites, that she would be out in a few days,” Morgan said of his mother’s August 2012 stay in hospital. “I had no concerns as I drove to Whitehorse (after her medevac).”

So he was surprised to learn, after talking to doctors at Whitehorse General, that things were grave.

He recalled discussion with Eva, other members of the family, and the doctors about taking her off life support.

He said he never had concerns about racial discrimination in Watson Lake, adding he didn’t feel his mother’s First Nations background played a role in the care she received.

Secerbegovic, her family doctor, was a friend of hers who’d known her for 35 years, Morgan testified. He is married to the doctor’s daughter.

“There’s a lot of alcoholism in Watson Lake,” he said. “The guy has been dealing with severely alcoholic patients for years and years.”

Three registered nurses (RNs) who worked day or night shifts while Johnny was in hospital, as well as one licensed practical nurse and the hospital’s administrator, also testified.

Nicole Fradette was the RN on shift when Johnny came to hospital via an ambulance from Parhelion Medical Services in Watson Lake.

She testified that the woman said she’d stopped drinking 10 days earlier and was going through withdrawal.

She complained of fatigue, weakness, and stomach pain, and said she’d barely urinated at all since she’d given up alcohol.

The nurse did blood work and gave her a bolus, an injection of a large amount of saline to increase her fluids.

Over the next few days, Secerbegovic and the nurses monitored Johnny.

At times, her condition improved, and she reported feeling better.

On Aug. 7, however, she was not responding to verbal stimuli and was looking off into space, moving her arms and hands, according to nurses’ notes. Her legs were mottled, indicating poor circulation.

Overnight, she was disoriented and talking to herself, pulling at her clothes and moaning.

Amber Moffat, the nurse who cared for Johnny the night of Aug. 7, said she spoke to Secerbegovic and was told the plan was to treat her aggressively in Watson Lake and keep her comfortable.

Lawyers for several parties were present Tuesday: Gordon Johnson for the Yukon Hospital Corp., Jonathan Meadows for the physicians, and Kirkpatrick and Cindy Freedman for the coroner.

The Yukon’s ambulance service will be represented by lawyer Kim Sova, who was not present at Tuesday’s proceedings.

Earlier this year, an inquest was held into the death of Teresa Scheunert, also of Watson Lake, who died in the summer of 2012 after being treated at the hospital there.

The jury determined she’d died accidentally of mixed-drug toxicity.

The presiding coroner told the jury members Tuesday morning that their role was not to find guilt nor place blame, but rather to determine the identity of the deceased and where, when, how, and by what means she died.

Jury members may also make recommendations to prevent similar deaths.

The inquest was initially scheduled for earlier this year, but was pushed back after Johnny’s family requested a lawyer. The adjournment allowed Cunningham adequate time to prepare.

Macdonald requested Leibel be appointed to preside “to ensure that the inquest proceedings, findings, and any possible recommendations are distinct and separate from any previous findings of the chief coroner in these two cases.”

The inquest continued today. It’s also being streamed to a courtroom in Watson Lake.

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