N.S. woman dies after waiting 7 hours in hospital ER, family demands answers
Global News
The husband of a Nova Scotia woman who died after a seven-hour wait at the emergency department in Cumberland County said he felt they were 'neglected' until it was too late.
The husband of a Nova Scotia woman who died after a seven-hour wait at the emergency department in Cumberland County said he felt they were “neglected” until “it was just too late.”
Allison Holthoff, 37, of Tidnish, N.S., was a beloved mother of three, avid community volunteer, animal lover and deputy chief of the local fire department.
“She was always happy to help people,” her husband, Gunter Holthoff, said during a news conference Monday.
“She was just a caring person for everybody. I wish somebody would have been there for her.”
Holthoff detailed how his wife had collapsed on the morning of Dec. 31, 2022, complaining of an upset stomach.
He chose to drive her instead of calling 911, because he didn’t want to wait for an ambulance, and headed for the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre in Amherst, N.S.
She arrived at the ER at around 11 a.m. in so much pain her husband had to carry her.
“I think that she actually started saying that she thought she was dying in the waiting room outside. But she kept saying it more and more. She said, ‘I think I’m dying. Don’t let me die here.’ And I said, ‘No, that’s why I’ve got you in the hospital.”