Frostbite amputations hit 10-year high in Edmonton last winter, new data show

Laurie-Lynn Discoteau went to the University of Alberta Hospital one evening in November 2022, seeking help for a painful and swollen infected foot. 

The swelling meant her shoe and sock didn't fit on the foot, resulting in frostbite. 

After surgery, Discoteau says she was discharged with only a light bandage. 

When she couldn't recall the address of the place she'd been staying, she says the hospital staff put her in a cab to the Hope Mission shelter in central Edmonton, assuring her that the staff there had been notified and would bring her in immediately.

Upon arrival she recalls being told by shelter staff the facility was full and they'd had no call from the hospital. 

"I had to wait for two hours outside in the cold. I think it was –40 with the wind chill that night," she said in a recent interview with CBC News.

Hope Mission says after speaking to staff and reviewing CCTV footage, they can't confirm Discoteau came to the shelter.

Regardless, Discoteau spent the night in a nearby encampment, in a damp tent with wet blankets. By morning the skin on her foot had blackened. 

"I knew what that meant," she says.

In late December, her leg was amputated below the knee. It was her second amputation: she'd lost the other foot in an accident five years ago.

It's a common situation. 

New data obtained by CBC News shows a major spike in the number of frostbite amputations performed in Edmonton last winter — more than the previous three years combined, and more than double any other year over the past decade.

Last winter was colder than average, but other even colder winters since 2011 saw little or no increase in amputations. What made last winter different was the sharp increase in the number of people who were homeless during the pandemic, experts say.

That influx into a flawed and under-resourced system produced a situation that became dangerous when freezing temperatures arrived.