Woman launches lawsuit against London, Ont., hospital after daughter's brain injury
WARNING: This story con‐ tains distressing details and discussion of suicide and suicide ideation.
A woman who says her adult daughter was left in a vegetative state following an attempt to take her own life in 2021 is suing a London, Ont., hospital that had been caring for her.
Karen Elliott alleges staff at London Health Science Centre's (LHSC) Victoria Hos‐ pital failed to properly super‐ vise and ensure her daughter Elysse's safety after she out‐ lined plans on multiple occa‐ sions that she wanted to end her life.
Elysse, now 35, suffered a global anoxic brain injury she has lost all mobility and cognitive ability and requires a surgically created hole in her windpipe to breathe, ac‐ cording to a statement of claim filed in London's Court of Justice on Dec. 11.
"This was completely avoidable," Elliott told CBC News.
"They had all the indica‐ tors and staff weren't there when they should have been," she said, adding their concern "just wasn't high enough."
LHSC declined to com‐ ment on the case as it's be‐ fore the courts, but said in an email to CBC that "patientcentred care, compassion and privacy is at the forefront of our core values."
None of the allegations in Elliott's claim have been proven in court.
The claim includes 27 de‐ fendants, such as psychia‐ trists and registered nurses, a therapeutic recreation spe‐ cialist, and a patients' rights adviser at Victoria Hospital. According to the lawsuit, on several occasions, Elysse de‐ scribed to them how she planned to harm herself and despite that, items including a raised hospital bed and bed sheets were left in the room.
Court documents said the defendants "failed to provide a ligature-free bed to Elysse and provided her with use of a height-adjustable bed with‐ out a lockout feature that would prevent patient use."
"They permitted her to have access to bed sheets, curtains and other objects she could use to cause selfharm and failed to ensure Elysse's safety checks were performed properly."
Repeated times in hos‐ pital
According to the state‐ ment of claim, Elysse was brought by ambulance to the emergency department on Nov. 22, 2021, after engaging in self-harm. Her wounds were treated by a nurse prac‐ titioner and she was dis‐ charged shortly after without getting a psychiatric assess‐ ment, it says.
The next day, she re‐ turned to the hospital and re‐ ported increased anxiety, dif‐ ficulties coping and suicide ideation, after which she was admitted to the psychiatric in-patient department and a doctor ordered regular safety checks.
On Nov. 25, a psychiatrist signed a form of involuntary admission because he be‐ lieved Elysse could seriously harm herself. It was set to ex‐ pire on Dec. 8 but another psychiatrist extended her stay until Jan. 7, 2022, follow‐ ing further assessments.
On Dec. 9, Elysse at‐ tempted to take her life and a Code Blue (indicating seri‐ ous injuries were sustained) was called after her room‐ mate alerted authorities, who used emergency lifesaving measures to resusci‐ tate her.
Elysse spent 10 months in an intensive-care unit and is now living in a complex-care centre, where she uses a wheelchair and needs a feed‐ ing tube.
It is not yet known how much the family can seek in damages - a specific assess‐ ment to review Elysse's con‐ dition and her future needs still needs to be undertaken, said their lawyer, Kate Maz‐ zucco, adding they're await‐ ing a statement of defence.
Types of compensation may include costs of lifelong care to maintain Elysse's quality of life, including at‐ tendant and nursing care, possibly costing hundreds of thousands of dollars annual‐ ly, Mazzucco said.
"There will be a number of out-of-pocket expenses that the family is going to in‐ cur while they try their very best to support Elysse in achieving any process that she can in her recovery," she said.
"Elysse's injuries are very severe. She will require lifelong assistance for every aspect of her day-to-today living and there's no greater loss."
'She's the best part of my day,' says mom
Elysse has a twin sister and four other sisters. She completed a nursing degree from Western University five days before she was admit‐ ted to hospital, her mom said. Despite struggling with depression and an eating dis‐ order, Elysse had goals of helping others and someday volunteering overseas.
Her mother said she goes right from her job as a teacher to the care facility where she spends the ma‐ jority of her evenings.
"My entire week revolves around Elysse," she said. "She's the best part of my day and I try to get through work just to see her."
Elliot said she's sharing Elysse's story to raise aware‐ ness about improving suicide assessment and treatment protocols, and in hopes of helping other families.
In August 2017, the On‐ tario Hospital Association's task force on suicide preven‐ tion published a report rec‐ ommending that hospitals undertake a detailed assess‐ ment of physical environ‐ ments and that any ligature points in psychiatric wards should be removed as a starting point.
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