Desperate and near starvation, his wife drove him 1,000 kilometres for the care that saved him

Labrador resident Scott Russell had been in such intense pain and near starvation — he had lost about 90 pounds, or nearly half of his weight — that his wife drove more than 1,000 kilometres to Corner Brook, N.L., to get him the medical care he needed. 

Russell and his wife Mina Campbell had waited for months to hear from a cardiovascular surgeon in St. John's, but Campbell said when they eventually saw the surgeon, he told them he had never received a call. 

"He [the surgeon] was surprised, he said 'I don't know what you're talking about,'" Campbell said. "Whatever happened shouldn't have happened because Scott was starving to death all this time." 

Campbell said something has to change so that no one else has to spend months waiting for a phone call that never comes, worried their loved one will die. 

Russell had a blockage in an artery from his stomach to his bowels in 2022. It caused intense pain after eating. In October 2022, after Russell had a stent put in by a surgeon in St. John's, he was slowly able to eat and return to normal. 

In February 2023, the symptoms reappeared. Campbell said they were the same — intense pain after eating. 

"He's not eating, he can't eat because he knows he's going to be in pain," Campbell said. "He was drinking Boost and Ensure and all this stuff but none of it was working."

Campbell said Russell saw doctors 16 times — online, in person and at the ER — between February and the end of August. The doctors conducted tests until July, including a CAT scan that checked the artery that had the stent and found it was clear.

On Aug. 3, 2023, medical records show a referral letter was sent for Russell to see the cardiovascular surgeon again. Records also show that repeated calls were made to the surgeon's office but they were not returned. 

Russell's pain sent the couple to the emergency rooms at the Labrador Health Centre and Mani Ashini Clinic in Sheshatshiu Innu First Nation repeatedly throughout August.

Campbell said each time, doctors told the couple they could only do pain management, the same as what could be done at home, while waiting for the surgeon. 

By Aug. 23, Campbell said Russell had lost about 90 pounds, down to a weight of 112 pounds, and was still turned away at the Labrador Health Centre emergency room without being admitted. 

"I couldn't believe that they wouldn't admit him because he was starving and you could tell by looking at him," Campbell said. "He was so weak. I mean, he hadn't eaten properly for months and he was in pain."

She said Russell should have been admitted and monitored.