Nursing assistant describes 'horrible' bedsore of patient who sought assisted death after ER stay

A nursing assistant who was the first home-care worker to see Normand Meunier after a disastrous hospital stay in Saint-Jérôme, Que., in January 2024 described the bedsore he returned home with as "horrible."

Brigitte Guilbon, a licensed practical nurse who was part of Meunier's care team from 2022 until his death in March 2024, testified Tuesday at the coroner's inquiry looking into the 66-year-old's death.

Guilbon testified she had never seen a wound like the one Meunier returned home with after being stuck on a stretcher for four days in the emergency room.

"His morale was very, very low, and the sore was horrible," Guilbon testified, wiping her eyes as her voice broke.

As Guilbon described the gaping, blackened wound on Meunier's buttocks a few centimetres in diameter, coroner Dave Kimpton requested a brief recess, noting the testimony was difficult for Meunier's partner, Sylvie Brosseau, to hear.

When the hearing resumed, Kimpton said future witnesses would not be asked to describe the wound in detail, to spare Brosseau from having to hear the description repeatedly.

The wound was painful and the prognosis for recovery was several months. Meunier eventually opted for medical assistance in dying.

He died at home on March 29, 2024.

Meunier was quadriplegic and prone to bedsores. Guilbon testified he had to be turned every two hours in order to prevent them.

She said before the hospital stay in late January 2024, she and other members of Meunier's care team were able to keep his recurring bedsores "stable" and "under control."

Guilbon said before Meunier was admitted to hospital with a suspected virus on Jan. 18, 2024, his general state was good.

During the hospital stay, Meunier didn't have access to a special pressure mattress that he normally used at home, despite Brosseau making repeated requests to hospital staff.

Guilbon testified she was shocked when she first saw Meunier's bedsore on Feb. 1, 2024, after he returned home from hospital, saying she had never seen such a wound in her 15-year career.

She said she questioned whether he should've even been released from hospital, and that she believed the bandage and treatment of the bedsore at the hospital were not appropriate.

Guilbon said she and the home-care team did their best to care for the wound, but it continued to deteriorate in the weeks following Meunier's hospital stay.

She said at the time, Meunier wasn't sleeping well and was very worried about his prognosis.

On Monday, the first day of the inquiry, Brosseau described the weeks that followed until Meunier's death as "horror".

Other members of Meunier's home-care team testified Tuesday.

Véronique Beauchamps-Émond, a social worker who worked with Meunier for two years, said that Brosseau was an important part of Meunier's care team and that he wouldn't have been able to stay at home without her support.

Brosseau told reporters Monday that she had been with Meunier 24 hours a day since he became quadriplegic in 2022.

She has been a constant presence at the inquiry as well, to the point that Kimpton sometimes asked her for clarification if a witness was confused about a particular date or detail.

Brosseau is expected to testify later this month.

The inquiry is scheduled to start hearing from staff at the Saint-Jérôme Hospital on Wednesday.