'My heart just sunk': Mother recounts experience at packed Alberta Children's Hospital
An Alberta mother is recounting her experience arriving at a packed children's hospital when her young daughter was in dire need of help.
Amanda Weger said it's been a terrifying two weeks since she brought her daughter Avery into the Alberta Children's Hospital, where the 23-month-old remains with RSV and the flu.
"We originally went to urgent care here in Airdrie and the parking lot was completely packed," she said. "So, I decided to drive in to Children's."
A surge in respiratory illnesses in children has slammed the hospital – with wait times exceeding 12 hours.
With the hospital working at-capacity some days, Alberta Health Services set up a heated trailer outside as an overflow waiting room and paused respite care so staff from the children’s hospice can help at the hospital instead.
"It was scary, it was very scary," Weger said. "I saw that trailer being unloaded and my heart just sunk, like, is that where we are?"
But, it makes sense, she added. When Weger brought Avery in, the waiting room had chairs lined up to the doors.
"When we got there it was, it was insane," she said. "I think when I got there it was three and a half hours just to be triaged."
Her heart dropped when she saw the line, she said. However, when a nurse came to help move them to another chair and noticed Avery's condition, they were taken to the ICU right away.
Weger said she was shocked to find it full.
"The doctor had told me as well that, he's like, 'Today we've got 15 kids in here that are all the same as Avery or worse,'" she said. "And that's scary right? You have an entire ICU unit completely full of kids on ventilators.
"All of these kids are in there because they have some kind of respiratory virus, and most of them – like Avery – had two or more."
Despite being overworked, Weger said the staff has been wonderful. But she worries about the continuing pressure on a health-care system already strained from the pandemic.
Avery was born during COVID-19, spending time in the NICU during lockdowns. And that wasn't as bad as what she's watching her daughter live through now, Weger said.
"This is scarier to me because we've completely exhausted our health-care system now for almost three years, and now we're getting hit with this huge wave of sick kids," she said.
"It's rough. I feel for all of us that are in there right now, because it is scary. The nurses are so overworked."
Weger said Avery is improving, and the family is hoping to get her home in time for her birthday on Christmas Day. But, Avery still hasn't been able to pass the tests she needs to be released.
"She can't come home. And it's just frustrating," she said. "Like, I know she's in the best place but we had three Christmases in a row that have been in hospital or trauma or chaos, so I was really hoping that this was going to be our first normal Christmas."
The province says it's working to build capacity, but is hopeful the surge of RSV and flu may soon subside.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
First court appearance for boy and girl charged in death of Halifax 16-year-old
A girl and a boy, both 14 years old, made their first appearance today in a Halifax courtroom, where they each face a second-degree murder charge in the stabbing death of a 16-year-old high school student.