Jerry Dunham passed away on June 7, 2020. The family says the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the surgery for his pacemaker, which they say could have saved his life (Photo Courtesy of Karen Dunham)

By Tiffany Goodwein

Family shattered

Family wants change after Redcliff man dies during surgery wait caused by COVID-19

Jun 29, 2020 | 4:12 PM

REDCLIFF, AB – An elective surgery that couldn’t be scheduled due to COVID-19 has left a Redcliff family mourning and seeking change so no other family has to suffer a similar tragedy.

The family of Jerry Dunham told CHAT News he was advised by doctors that he needed a pacemaker, and in April he went to schedule a surgery only to be told by a nurse that scheduling a procedure couldn’t happen.

That’s because on March 17 the province announced that they would be pausing all elective and non-urgent surgeries as part of their response to COVID-19

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“The answer was this has been deemed non-essential surgery by the government, call us in one to two years, we will reschedule it within the next couple of years,” Jerry’s common-law partner Krista Lambier said.

“He was very, very, frustrated he went, ‘what do I do now? What am I supposed to do now?’ We didn’t have any answers,” Jerry’s mom Karen Dunham said.

Weeks later, on May 30, Jerry went into cardiac arrest.

His family said the 46-year-old was unresponsive and had a lack of oxygen in his brain.

“I sat there for a long time, a week watching him…it was very hard…I don’t wish that on anybody,” Karen said.

Doctors kept him alive long enough so that his two young girls and common-law partner Krista could fly in from Ontario to say their goodbyes.

“My oldest girl, she got up on the bed lying with her dad, arms around him begging him, begging him, begging him to please come back to life for her,” Lambier said.

Jerry passed away on June 7.

His death has left his family shattered and wondering if things could have been done differently.

“In my opinion yes 99.99 per cent preventable death it’s a shame he fell through the cracks,” Lambier said.

“I just wish that they would have continued on with surgeries for these people who needed those, and not put them on hold,” Dunham said.

The family is now hoping that Jerry’s story will lead to a change in policy, so that people needing elective, or non-essential surgery during a pandemic will be able to get the help they need before it is too late.

“It’s very hard. I feel sorry for any family that has to go through this. It’s very hard,” Dunham said.