Ten-year-old boy has surgery postponed three times

A 10-year-old boy in need of an ear and throat surgery at the Montreal Children's Hospital has been turned away three times since April.

Daniel Kravec suffers from speech and hearing impediments which require surgery to correct. According to his mother, Dayle Lesperance, the past two times he has been turned away, it has been due to a lack of beds.

“I want to get it over with because it’s frustrating,” said Kravec.

Kravec has been in and out of hospitals since birth and his hearing and speech problems result in him being misunderstood and teased at school. While he does speech therapy, Lesperance said the surgery could fix problems that the therapy can’t.

“There’s only so much you can do if you can’t anatomically, physically producer certain sounds,” she said.

The wait has been exhausting for the family.

“Weeks or a couple of months can go by without having any news at all,” said Lesperance.

The MUHC said it can’t comment on specific cases but did acknowledge some patients are bumped from the intensive care unit.

“Acutely ill patients in need of critical care are prioritized and this can lead to the rescheduling of some scheduled surgeries," the MUHC said in a statement.

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  Daniel Kravec, 10, has had surgery to help correct his speech and hearing impairments delayed three times by the MUHC.