Her partner pursued MAID due to a bedsore. She tells Quebec coroner it was 'unimaginable'

Rachel Watts · CBC News

· Posted: May 15, 2025 7:08 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

Carrying an envelope afloat of photos of her partner, Sylvie Brosseau's dependable cracked arsenic she shuffled done the stack — revealing a photograph of Normand Meunier successful a play cart with their grandchildren.

"We were ever outside," she said of her partner, Meunier.

"Despite him being quadriplegic, helium had galore projects … helium had goals."

But erstwhile helium developed an "incurable" bedsore astatine the hospital, she says her spouse "no longer had an involvement successful life."

Meunier spent 4 days connected a stretcher successful the Saint-Jérôme Hospital's exigency country without entree to a specialized mattress erstwhile helium arrived with a respiratory microorganism successful January 2024.

He developed a terrible bedsore during his enactment and chose to prosecute aesculapian assistance successful dying arsenic a effect of the monolithic coiled which yet stretched down to his musculus and bone.

As horrific arsenic the sore became, Brosseau says it's important to besides retrieve down "the bedsore is simply a person, and me, I'm bringing photos of the person."

The time earlier his death, Meunier spoke to Radio-Canada and said helium preferred putting an extremity to his carnal and intelligence suffering by opting for a medically assisted death.

His communicative made headlines crossed the state and resulted successful Quebec's main coroner ordering a nationalist enquiry into his death.

Over a week into the enquiry which has heard from nurses, doctors and unit astatine the hospital, Brosseau testified that the bedsore her spouse developed aft spending 96 hours connected a infirmary stretcher was "unimaginable."

On Thursday she explained that she cared for her hubby astir the timepiece aft helium became paralyzed successful 2022. Although they regularly dealt with his bedsores, she struggled to picture the heavy achromatic unit coiled connected her hubby that developed successful February.

"I person ne'er seen thing similar this," said Brosseau, breaking down.

Last week, Brosseau testified concisely aft the coroner received a petition to assistance the work prohibition connected images of Meunier's bedsore. Brosseau said she had discussed the thought of photos being released with Meunier, who by the end, said helium was good with it if it would assistance radical recognize what happened to him.

CBC News has viewed photos of the bedsore, including 1 representation which shows Meunier lying connected his broadside without apparel — a large, deep, open, achromatic wound covering parts of his buttocks is visible.

'Nobody was reacting,' said Brosseau

On Thursday, Brosseau testified that her concerns implicit the processing bedsore successful infirmary were not taken earnestly by immoderate unit and that "nobody was reacting."

During his hospitalization, she says she quelled her concerns, due to the fact that she is not a aesculapian nonrecreational and chose to spot the aesculapian staff's position connected the seriousness of the sore.

Describing the archetypal fewer days of his January hospitalization earlier helium was transferred to the intensive attraction unit, she described her repeated requests for a therapeutic mattress. She says thing changed for days and unit didn't reposition him regularly each mates hours — a process recommended to forestall the deterioration of the sores.

Soon aft returning home, the CLSC was alerted to the situation. The head of the home-care section for the CLSC testified past week that they arranged for Meunier to beryllium readmitted for a attraction that tin beryllium painful, known arsenic debridement.

Before his hospitalization, she says they talked astir the outpouring and thought astir readying picnics oregon sportfishing trips.

"His extremity was to spot his grandchildren turn up," she said. "That gave him hope"

After his January hospitalization, she says helium didn't privation her to speech astir his bedsore "but by my reaction, helium could archer it was not good."

"It was tough," said Brosseau, her dependable cracking.

She says she supported him successful his determination to dice connected his terms. Although she says her household accepted it, she says immoderate didn't wholly recognize his decision.

Speaking with reporters connected Thursday, Brosseau says her extremity is to bring consciousness to her partner's world and for amended collaboration to forestall this from happening again.

"That pressures don't conscionable hap astatine home, they hap successful infirmary frequently. Care is not adapted," she said.

Speaking to reporters connected Thursday, Patrick Martin-Ménard, the lawyer representing Brosseau, says few are taking work implicit the situation. 

"Pretty overmuch what we've heard arsenic a recurring taxable passim this probe has been 'it's not wrong my responsibilities,'" said Martin-Ménard. 

Coroner Kimpton is being assisted by attorneys Vanessa Nadeau and Pierre-Olivier Bilodeau, and doc Dr. Marc Jalbert, who volition enactment arsenic an assessor.

Throughout the hearings, implicit 30 witnesses volition speak, including an researcher from the Sûreté du Québec Mascouche, nurses from the CLSC Lafontaine, household doctors and different specialists moving astatine the Saint-Jérôme Hospital.