MONTREAL — Sylvie Brosseau said she and her partner Normand Meunier dreamed of buying an adapted camper where, despite his quadriplegia, they could indulge their shared love of the outdoors, and spend time with their children and grandchildren.
All that changed after Meunier was left on a stretcher at a hospital north of Montreal for 96 hours and developed a severe pressure sore that never healed, Brosseau said Thursday outside the Montreal courtroom where a coroner is holding hearings into Meunier's death.
Meunier, who was 66, requested medical assistance in dying two months after developing the sore and died March 29, 2024.
"Despite his quadriplegia, he still had plans he wished to realize, he had lofty goals," Brosseau said. "But because of the incurable bedsore that appeared at the hospital, he had no more perspective on life."
Brosseau says she repeatedly asked hospital staff to give Meunier a special therapeutic mattress that prevents sores, but she says she felt ignored.
"They cared very little about me," she said prior to her testimony at the coroner's inquest.
She brought photos of the couple's life together, including one showing Meunier grinning broadly while surrounded by grandchildren. She said she wanted people to remember that side of him, and not only for graphic photos of the gaping wound on his buttock that one nurse would describe as the biggest she'd ever seen.
Coroner Dave Kimpton is presiding over the investigation into Meunier's death. The inquest, which began May 5, is also hearing from police, medical personnel, and experts who will offer recommendations.
In her testimony Thursday afternoon, Brosseau said bedsores were “always a worry” because Meunier had developed them during previous hospital stays.
She testified that her partner had been taken to St-Jérôme hospital on Jan. 18, 2024, with respiratory issues. She said she had told the medical staff that he was prone to sores and advised them of the equipment he needed, including a therapeutic mattress.
However, she said Meunier remained on a stretcher for four days before he was taken to intensive care. After a two-day stay in intensive care, he was transferred to another unit on Jan. 26, where Brosseau said the proper equipment again wasn't provided.
When she questioned one of his doctors about a mattress, she was told, "you are lucky, I saved his life," she testified. He told her that securing a therapeutic mattress would be handled by others.
"For him, it was part of the decor," she said of the mattress.
Meunier was let out of hospital on Jan. 29. The next day, the medical staff who came to treat him at home saw the sore and was shocked, she said.
Brosseau became tearful when she described seeing the wound on Feb. 5, after her husband's caretakers convinced the family Meunier needed to return to hospital.
"I never saw something like that," she said. "It’s unimaginable.”
Brosseau said that throughout her husband's multiple hospital stays, she continually had to fight for him to get the supplies he needed, including mattresses, sheets and bandages adapted to his needs. Meunier requested medical assistance in dying in early March, after his condition had continued to decline.
He died on March 29, surrounded by family and with his chosen music playing. "He left how he wanted," she said.
At the conclusion of her testimony, Kimpton told Brosseau he was "shaken" by her testimony, and praised her dedication to her partner. "He was lucky to have a warrior at his side," the coroner told her.
Brosseau's lawyer, Patrick Martin-Ménard, said outside the courtroom that Meunier's story shows that bedsores, and the care of those susceptible to them, remain a "blind spot" in the health system.
"What we saw throughout this inquest is that throughout Mr. Meunier's stay, there was very little awareness on the part of the professionals who should have been trained to be able to monitor this situation," he said.
Martin-Ménard said the testimony from hospital staff showed "little introspection" or willingness to take responsibility for what happened to Meunier. He said he hoped the inquest results in a stronger system that will proactively identify and address the needs of people at risk of bedsores at every step of their journey through the health network.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 15, 2025.
Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press
