Family awaits jury’s findings as Michael inquest wraps up

The coroner’s inquest into the August, 2008 death of Elisapee Michael wrapped up in Iqaluit April 13 with closing statements from lawyers and tears of anguish from Michael’s family.

Family members wept as lawyer Scott Wheildon, who’s representing them at the inquest, recounted the facts surrounding Michael’s death after she fell down the stairs in front of the Nova Hotel.

Wheildon described the series of events, which took place between Aug. 8 and 10, as “a tragic fabric of errors” on the part of police and health care workers.

Michael had been drinking that night and was asked to leave the hotel bar, but she also suffered a head injury during the fall.

She was taken to Qikiqtani General Hospital, where she became belligerent with hospital staff.

The hospital was busy that night and staff called the police to have Michael taken to RCMP cells, over the objection of one doctor, Shahin Shirzad, who was overheard by police asking “Why was she sent to jail and not left here [at the hospital]?”

Earlier, Shirzad testified that Michael should have immediately been medevaced to Ottawa for treatment for a head injury, but the inquest heard there was no plane available.

Instead, Michael spent 14 hours lying in a pool of vomit at the RCMP detachment, until an officer became concerned and had her taken to the hospital.

The inquest heard Michael vomited bile and curled up into the fetal position in her cell, which is a sign of a head injury.

“Ask yourselves about the manner in which Elisapee, your fellow citizen, was treated,” Wheildon told the six-person jury.

“Elisapee was not medevaced, but sent to jail… No one asked for 14 hours if she was okay.”

Michael’s sister Eva was at the hospital that night and gave her phone number to hospital staff. “We should have never left the hospital,” Eva cried out as Wheildon was speaking.

Wheildon presented a list of recommendations the Michael family wants to see, including:

• improvements to stairs and lighting at the front entrance of the Nova Hotel;

• written reports from paramedics be provided to health care staff, so that their information is contained in patient charts;

• rules barring healthcare workers from transferring people with suspected head injuries to police;

• CT scanners, which can diagnose bleeding in the brain, installed at Qikqitani General Hospital;

• prisoners in RCMP cells regularly assessed for responsiveness and video recordings of all cells stored on a hard drive for a certain period of time; and,

• Inuktitut-speaking staff available around the clock for both RCMP and hospital staff.

Lawyers for the RCMP and three of the doctors on duty at QGH also suggested recommendations to the jury.

Six suggested recommendations from Meghan O’Brien, representing the three doctors, closely matched the ones presented by Wheildon.

The jury retired April 13 to deliberate and come up with findings and recommendations. It’s not clear when they will come back with their report.