‘It’s not right I can’t be with my family right now’
Rotational worker whose wife died upset he couldn’t get a COVID-19 test sooner
Less than two days after his wife collapsed and died in front of her three children, Vince Whalen sat alone in their family home while the rest of his family visited the funeral home.
“This is hard,” he told The Telegram Thursday, his voice quivering. “Everyone is at the funeral home and I can’t be there. I’m here by myself and I can’t do anything.”
Whelan — a maintenance supervisor who works rotational shifts for an industrial company in Fort McMurray — took what seemed like the longest flight of his life home Wednesday after receiving the devastating news about his wife.
Karen Goobie-Whalen was in the kitchen of their home in Queen’s Cove, near Goobies, with the couple’s children — oldest daughter, Brianna, 19, and 17-year-old twins, Rean and Ryan — Tuesday when she suddenly collapsed on the floor and died.
While the cause of her death hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, it’s believed she suffered a massive heart attack.
“I’m still in shock,” said Whalen, who was married to Karen for 22 years and together for 27 years. “You don’t expect this. She was only 49 years old.”
Upon arriving home Whalen wanted nothing more but to be with his children, but felt he couldn’t as he was following the provincial government’s COVID-19 regulations for rotational workers.
The standard guidelines state that rotational workers have to self-isolate for five days after arriving back in the province before being tested. They can leave isolation after seven days if the test is declared negative. Whalen said when he tried to get a quicker appointment, the earliest he could get was Friday.
“(My kids) only have one parent now,” said Whalen. “This is an emergency situation and it’s not right I can’t be with (all) my family right now.”
When asked about Whalen’s situation Thursday at the House of Assembly, Health Minister Dr. John Haggie said there’s no obstacle to reuniting the family of a rotational worker in such circumstances, as noted in the revised government guidelines regarding rotational workers. He said there are flexible arrangements with the funeral homes and flexible guidelines have been worked out to allow visitations during isolation. He said the guidelines state that in this situation, a rotational worker’s family is their bubble
“I think it was simply a question of conveying those to someone who was very distraught, likely very tired, and obviously under a lot of distress,” said Haggie, who said the situation would’ve been dealt with had Whalen called the exceptions line.