Patient remembers 'so much pain' during surgery assisted by fake nurse at Vancouver hospital

Alexandra Tymkiw encountered Brigitte Cleroux during one of her most vulnerable moments. It was Dec. 15, 2020, and Tymkiw was a patient at B.C. Women's Hospital in Vancouver, about to have surgery to remove a polyp from her uterus.

Cleroux was presented to her as a perioperative nurse who would be administering pain medication during the procedure, according to Tymkiw, a 40-year-old Burnaby resident.

Tymkiw said she was immediately struck by Cleroux's demeanour. She described her as loud, condescending and self-aggrandizing, which she found unusual for a health professional.

"I got on the table and I had my legs in stirrups and I was disrobed from the waist down, legs wide open, so they can operate on me. And I'm pretty nervous," Tymkiw recalled.

"I'm just saying to myself, 'OK, these are professionals … don't worry.'"

But as it turns out, they weren't all professionals.

On Thursday, Tymkiw received a letter from the hospital, informing her that Cleroux did not have any nursing credentials when she assisted with that surgery.

In fact, Cleroux, 49, has been arrested and charged with fraud over $5,000 and personation with the intent to gain advantage. Vancouver police say she used the name of a real nurse to gain employment at the hospital, where she provided care to patients from June 2020 to June 2021.

Tymkiw also learned that Cleroux is facing similar charges in Ottawa, and has a long history of impersonation.

Tymkiw was deeply disturbed by the news, but it also raised new questions about her frightening experience during what should have been a relatively routine procedure.

She said her surgery was performed under local anaesthetic while Cleroux administered pain medication.

"Right away, there's tons of pain. I have a line in at the time and I'm supposed to be getting painkillers, but there's pain," Tymkiw said.

"Nothing was helping, and it got to the point where I was kind of squirming away from the surgeon. I remember my legs were just shaking, so there was so much pain," Tymkiw said.

She said Cleroux was asked to release more pain medication, but it didn't help. Tymkiw describes it as "10 out of 10 pain — and I've had a kidney stone."