Widow sues hospital over husband’s death from flesh-eating disease after doctors ‘turned him away three times’

Widow says ‘I knew the severity was pretty bad’ and files complaint

The Fort St John Hospital Foundation, which is overseen by Canada’s Northern Health Authority (Northern Health Authority )

A Canadian woman is taking legal action over the death of her husband, who died of the flesh-eating disease necrotising fasciitis after she claims doctors failed to take his symptoms seriously.

Britney Stewart, of British Columbia, claims her 40-year-old husband Josh Wakely visited a hospital three times between 24 and 26 February 2020 and was turned away despite increasing complaints.

She has now filed a lawsuit seeking financial compensation from the Northern Health Authority and Fort St John Hospital in British Columbia, where she said her husband was allegedly discharged from with only medication, or misdiagnosed.

Ms Stewart said she was forced to drive from her home in Lake Country to Fort St John to collect her husband from a work trip in February 2020 because of his steep deterioration. He was rushed to hospital the following day and later died.

“It just blows my mind that a healthy 40-year-old man with a sore throat didn’t get a swab done,” Ms Stewart told CTV News in a recent interview. “It seems like such a standard practice in all doctors’ offices that I have been to, so why wasn’t it in that ER that day?”

Doctors at Kelowna General Hospital, recognising Wakely was suffering from an Strep A infection that “turned into flesh eating disease”, put him on life support but were unable save his life, the complaint said.

Doctors at Fort St John allegedly believed Wakely was suffering from work related health problems, despite Ms Stewart describing her husband as somebody who would not “go to the doctor and say, ‘I’m sick,’ So I knew the severity was pretty bad”, it was claimed.

His situation deteriorated so rapidly that Wakely described his back pain as being “10 out of 10” despite taking 26 tablets to kill the pain, before his death.

Ms Stewart said “I do believe if he got the medication and the antibiotics that day, (on his first hospital visit) that things would have been different for him”, and in a recent interview with CBC News said: “It’s been definitely the most difficult two years of our lives”.

North Health Authority said in a statement to news outlets: “At this time, Northern Health has not been served regarding this statement of claim. NH cannot comment further, as the litigation process is underway.”

The couple had a son.

The Independent has approached Northern Health Authority for comment.