Taking an envelope full of photos of his partner, Sylvie Brosseau’s voice cracked while dragging the battery, revealing a photo of Normand Meunier in a golf cart with her grandchildren.
“We were always outside,” he said about Meunier.
“Although it was a tectéjico, I had many projects … I had goals.”
But when she developed a “incurable” Bedsore in the hospital, she says that her partner “had no interest in life.”
Meunier spent four days on a stretcher in the emergency room of the Saint-Jérôme hospital without access to a mattress specialized in January 2024, when he arrived with a respiratory virus.
He developed a severe bitsore during his stay and decided to seek medical assistance to die as a result of the massive wound, which finally extended to his muscle and bone.
As horrible as pain became, Brosseau says it is also important to remember that behind the bed “he is a person, and I am bringing photos of the person.”
The day before his death, Meunier spoke with Radio-Canadá and said he preferred to end his physical and psychological suffering by opting for a medically assisted death.
His history reached the headlines throughout the province and resulted in the main coroner of Quebec ordering a public investigation into his death.
During a week after the investigation, he has heard of nurses, doctors and hospital staff, Brosseau testified that the Bedsore his partner was developed after spending more than 90 hours on a hospital stretcher was “unimaginable.”
On Thursday, she explained that she cared about her husband throughout the day after he paralyzed in 2022. Although they regularly treated with their underpants, she struggled to describe the deep black pressure wound on her husband that was developed in February.
“I’ve never seen something like this,” Brosseau said, breaking.
Last week, Brosseau briefly testified after the coroner received a request to raise the ban on the publication of Meunier’s bed images. Brosseau said he had discussed the idea that the photos are released with Meunier, who in the end, said he agreed with that if he helped people understand what happened to him.
CBC News has seen Bedsore photos, including an image that shows Meunier lying sideless without clothes. A large, deep, black wound is visible, which covers parts of its buttocks.
Concerns not taken seriously, says Brosseau
On Thursday, Brosseau testified that his concerns about the developing amount in the hospital were not taken seriously by some staff and that “no one was reacting.”
During her hospitalization, she says she calculated her concerns because she is not a medical professional and chose to trust the perspective of medical staff about the severity of pain.
When describing the first days of its January hospitalization before being transferred to the Intensive Care Unit, she described her repeated requests of a therapeutic mattress. She says that nothing changed for days and the staff did not regularly reposition it every two hours, a recommended process to avoid the deterioration of sores.
Shortly after returning home, the CLSC was alerted to its situation. The head of the Household Care Department for the CLSC declared last week that they organized that Meunier was readmitted for a treatment that can be painful, known as debridement.
Before their hospitalization, Brosseau says they talked about spring and thought about planning picnics or fishing trips.
“His goal was to see his grandchildren grow,” he said. “That gave him hope”
After her January hospitalization, she says she did not want her to talk about her hill “, but for my reaction, he could say that it was not good.”
“It was difficult,” said Brosseau, his cracked voice.
She says she supported her in her decision to die in her terms. Although he says his family accepted him, he says that some did not understand completely.
Talking to journalists on Thursday, Brosseau says that his goal is to raise awareness about the reality of his partner and for a better collaboration to prevent this from happening again.
“Pressure sores not only occur at home, they are frequently produced in the hospital. The attention does not adapt,” he said.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday, Patrick Martin-Ménard, the lawyer who represents Brosseau, says that responsibility in this case is missing.
“More or less what we have heard as a recurring topic throughout this investigation has been:” It is not within my responsibilities, “said Martin-Ménard.
The Forensic Kimpton is being assisted by lawyers Vanessa Nadeau and Pierre-Olivier Bilodeau, as well as doctor Dr. Marc Jalbert, who will act as an advisor.
Throughout the audiences, more than 30 witnesses will speak, including a researcher at the Sûreté du Québec, CLSC Lafontaine nurses, family doctors and other specialists working at the Saint-Jérôme hospital.
