Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Isabelle Granito is now fighting to make sure other families can mourn with dignity and respect.
Jacques Richard was 52 years old when he died suddenly of a heart attack last year.
"My son contacted me. He said, 'Dad is dead.' He said, 'Come fast. There's nobody to help us," she said.
Richard was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital, where Granito found him, an hour after his death. She said her partner was lying on a stretcher in the resuscitation room.
"His body was all covered with biological fluids, and a tube was still there, and nothing had been cleaned," she said.
Granito has worked as a nurse for 26 years and said she was shocked to see his body had not been cleaned up. When she asked for a supervisor, Granito said she was told there was no one.
"I asked him, 'Please, can you send someone to clean it up?' They say, 'Yes, sure, I will send them. You'll go do it with her.' So I changed my husband with her," she said.
That was her last memory of her husband of 23 years.
"I've been robbed. I've been robbed this moment," she said.
Jacques Richard was 52 years old when he died suddenly of a heart attack last year (Handout photo)Granito said she suffers from post-traumatic stress and at not even 50 years old, she believes her career may be over.
"I'm traumatized. I haven't been back to work, and I'm not sure I can go back as a nurse," she said.
In a statement to CTV News, a spokesperson from the McGill University Hospital Centre wrote, "We are sorry to hear that a patient or family member has had an unpleasant experience at the MUHC."
Without commenting on the specific case, the spokesperson added, "it can also happen that family members enter the room when resuscitation efforts have just finished, and inadvertently find themselves face to face with a patient who has not been cleaned."
After losing the father of her children, Granito plans to file two official complaints: one with the MUHC and another with the Quebec Order of Nurses.
"I'm fighting for people like me who had no help," she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Teen was doing homework at family's Mississauga, Ont. restaurant when gunman opened fire: testimony
The 13-year-old sister of a young man killed in the attack on her family’s Mississauga restaurant in 2021 took the stand in a Brampton courthouse on Monday to describe the terrifying moments of coming under fire.
'Repetitive partisan conduct': Conservatives to force vote on ousting Speaker Greg Fergus
The federal Conservatives have advanced a motion that will force MPs to vote on whether to oust Greg Fergus as House of Commons Speaker, after MPs' deputy adjudicator ruled Monday that the Liberal member's allegedly errant partisan event invite required urgent attention.
Trial for B.C. man accused of killing, dismembering wife begins
The trial for a Langley man accused of killing his wife began Monday, with the prosecutor laying out a disturbing series of facts agreed upon by both Crown and defence.
Stars roar back to win Game 3 over Oilers
Jason Robertson's hat-trick goal midway through the third period broke a deadlock and proved to be the eventual winner as the Dallas Stars beat the host Edmonton Oilers 5-3 in Game 3 of the Western Conference Final to take a 2-1 series lead.
What a CBSA strike could look like, according to an expert
Slowed or interrupted travel, the passing of goods and significantly restricted borders should be expected if Canadian border workers take upcoming strike action.
WATCH Alta. man rescues wild foal trapped on steep cliffside
A man's daring rescue of a newborn wild foal that was trapped after falling down a steep embankment was caught on video over the weekend.
Severe thunderstorms, tornado watch in some areas of Canada. Here's where
Depending on where you live, you can expect to get a mixed bag of weather this week, as local forecasts predict heavy rain, strong wind, severe thunderstorms and even snowfall across some areas of Canada.
B.C. senior prepares to move due to devastating effects of fraud
A Courtenay, B.C., senior is downsizing and packing to move as she comes to accept she can no longer afford to stay in her home, after falling victim to a scam that robbed her of her life savings worth more than $100,000.
Israel close to approving Gaza reunification program before Rafah invasion: Miller
Immigration Minister Marc Miller says Israel seemed to be on the verge of approving a program to get Palestinian relatives of Canadians out of the Gaza Strip before the country's invasion of the town of Rafah.