VANCOUVER -- A Surrey, B.C. woman is looking for answers after her husband died after a planned surgery was cancelled because of COVID-19 measures.
Delia Oliveira's husband, Chris Walcroft, had been dealing with failing kidneys for several years. He was due to get surgery for the condition on March 17, but on March 16 the hospital called to cancel the surgery.
"I called the hospital and asked why," Oliveira told CTV News Channel. "They said non-essential surgeries are being cancelled."
Walcroft was supposed to see a specialist on April 15. But he died that day without ever seeing the specialist or getting another chance at the surgery that he was told could have extended his life, Oliveira said.
"I'm sure I'm not the only one this has happened to and I'm probably not the only one this is going to happen to," Oliveira said, adding that a close friend also had a chemotherapy appointment delayed.
"I'm worried that the hospitals are bare and the focus is on COVID-19 — and life goes on," she said. "People are sick with other stuff as well."
Oliveira said her husband struggled with drug addiction earlier in his life, but worked hard to make a difference in other people's lives as the director of a recovery home.
"If you go to his Facebook page and you see all the people that he helped — parents saying he helped their kids and kids saying he helped their parents," Oliveira said. "He was an unbelievably good man."
