'Nobody was reacting,' says partner of man who pursued assisted death due to ER bedsore

Carrying an envelope full of photos of her partner, Sylvie Brosseau's voice cracked as she shuffled through the stack — revealing a photo of Normand Meunier in a golf cart with their grandchildren.

"We were always outside," she said of Meunier.

"Despite him being quadriplegic, he had many projects … he had goals."

But when he developed an "incurable" bedsore at the hospital, she says her partner "no longer had an interest in life."

Meunier spent four days on a stretcher in the Saint-Jérôme Hospital's emergency room without access to a specialized mattress in January 2024, when he arrived with a respiratory virus.

He developed a severe bedsore during his stay and chose to pursue medical assistance in dying as a result of the massive wound, which eventually stretched down to his muscle and bone.

As horrific as the sore became, Brosseau says it's important to also remember that behind the bedsore "is a person, and me, I'm bringing photos of the person."

The day before his death, Meunier spoke to Radio-Canada and said he preferred putting an end to his physical and psychological suffering by opting for a medically assisted death.

His story made headlines across the province and resulted in Quebec's chief coroner ordering a public inquiry into his death.

Over a week into the inquiry, which has heard from nurses, doctors and staff from the hospital, Brosseau testified that the bedsore her partner developed after spending more than 90 hours on a hospital stretcher was "unimaginable."

On Thursday, she explained that she cared for her husband around the clock after he became paralyzed in 2022. Although they regularly dealt with his bedsores, she struggled to describe the deep, black pressure wound on her husband that developed in February.

"I have never seen anything like this," said Brosseau, breaking down.

Last week, Brosseau testified briefly after the coroner received a request to lift the publication ban on images of Meunier's bedsore. Brosseau said she had discussed the idea of photos being released with Meunier, who by the end, said he was OK with it if it would help people understand what happened to him.

CBC News has viewed photos of the bedsore, including one image which shows Meunier lying on his side without clothes. A large, deep, black, open wound covering parts of his buttocks is visible.