Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 07, 2013, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B1 CROSSTOWN CIVIC CREDIT UNION www. crosstowncivic. mb. ca Call for details. ( Some conditions may apply.) FREE CHEQUING FOR 1 YEAR FREE MORTGAGE TRANSFERS PLUS PATRONAGE REBATES COMPETITIVE RATES CITY & BUSINESS CITY EDITOR: SHANE MINKIN 204- 697- 7292 city. desk@ freepress. mb. ca I winnipegfreepress. com WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2013 B 1 T HE sister of a man who died after waiting 34 hours for emergency care at Health Sciences Centre says she will never forgive staff there. Esther Grant, Brian Sinclair's older sister, told an inquest hearing on Tuesday she hung up on a hospital official who telephoned her at her British Columbia home to apologize for the 45- yearold's death on Sept. 21, 2008. " I'll never accept their apology," Grant said shortly after she became the first of an expected 70 witnesses to testify in the coming months. " I'll never forgive what they did to him. I just don't want it to happen to anyone else." Earlier, Grant told provincial court Judge Tim Preston her brother's death " to this day really bothers me still." " I am distressed, angry, about what was done to him. He was suffering for 34 hours. It really hurts me so bad." Sinclair, a double amputee, went to HSC with a blocked urinary catheter on Sept 19. Hours later, after being spoken to by at least two people in the emergency department, he was found dead in his wheelchair in the emergency waiting room. The cause of death was found to be a treatable bladder infection. The inquest, which has dates scheduled through to February, was called by the chief medical examiner in February 2009, but was delayed while awaiting the results of a Winnipeg police investigation. Last year, police said no criminal charges would be laid against any health- care worker but released no details because they said the information will come out during the inquest. Grant said she believes racism played a role in the death of her brother. " They should treat people nice and not just turn away from them." Grant, who said several times she was close to her " baby brother" and said she could tell his spirit was in the courtroom, said " he was a very kind person." She said he grew up with eight siblings near Sagkeeng First Nation because their mother didn't have treaty status at the time. " A lot of people liked him a lot. He was softspoken. He never harmed anyone." Grant said once, when her brother was in his early 20s, he broke open a door to a burning house to save people inside. " He risked his life. He was my hero. he was proud of himself: ' I could have died, but I didn't care because I wanted to save them. I happened to be there. I was an angel.' " Chaplain Ken McGhie, who got to know Sinclair when he came with his two brothers to the Lighthouse Mission on Main Street, said he told health officials the wristbands now put on patients to keep track of them when they enter the emergency department should be named in Sinclair's honour. " They should be called the Brian band," Mc- Ghie said. " This man lost his life because of negligence. That should be one thing they should do." Later, Manitoba's chief medical examiner, Dr. Thambirajah Balachandra, sparred with lawyer Bill Olson, who represents the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. Olson asked Balachandra why in the days after Sinclair's death he divulged to the media some details of who the man had contact with in the emergency room even though it appeared under the province's Fatalities Inquiries Act he shouldn't have. " We did not disclose any names," Balachandra said. And when asked about other medical issues Sinclair had, Balachandra instead responded " we know this person came to hospital, was seen speaking to a hospital employee as soon as he arrived and didn't go outside of the emergency department. He was talked to by security. Thirtysix hours later he died. " For me, that is not right. I'm not blaming anyone, but something went wrong somewhere and it has to be made right." Earlier, inquest counsel David Frayer told Preston witnesses will include doctors, nurses, home- care workers and members of the public who were with Sinclair in his final hours. Frayer said the judge can't find blame but can hear what happened and make recommendations to prevent similar tragedies from happening again. During his opening statements, Olson, on behalf of the WRHA, apologized to the Sinclair family for his death. Olson said no one individual was at fault but " some made errors in judgment or missed opportunities." Lawyer Garth Smorang, who represents the Manitoba Nurses Union and 16 nurses who will testify ( including 15 from HSC), said " nurses have been professionally and personally devastated" by Sinclair's death. kevin. rollason@ freepress. mb. ca THE city's public tennis courts are in dire need of repair, says Tennis Manitoba. Mark Arndt, executive director of Tennis Manitoba, said out of the 130 city- owned tennis courts, only about 24 are usable. The rest are in various states of disrepair, which is keeping people from playing. " We're trying to keep people in the game, and basically you go into these dilapidated courts, and it's tough to keep people interested," Arndt said. Arndt said he noticed the extent of the damage while playing with his son at one of the facilities. He said after 20 minutes of playing, his son fell and scraped his arm on some rocks on the court. Though this was a minor incident, Arndt said he is still concerned about how safe playing on the courts is. " I wouldn't be playing on these courts. It's too unsettling. The ground's too unsettling and I wouldn't want to risk injury by playing," he said. As the courts are city facilities, it's up to the city to maintain them. Arndt said Tennis Manitoba hasn't yet reached out the city, but plans to do so. The work that would keep the courts in good condition involves things such as sweeping sand and gravel off the courts and pressure- washing them at least once a year, as the dirt wears away at the top surface, Arndt said. " It's like maintaining a car, it's like maintaining anything else. If you want to keep it up to standard you have to spend some time after they're constructed," he said. Tim Green, president of the board of the Linden Woods Community Centre, said the courts there are usable, if not pristine. " They need some work. We're going to be doing line- painting on them this year. The nets are getting old," he said. Green said the centre just received a grant that will let them do some of the repairs. He said the centre could always use more money, but they make do with what they're getting. " We can make them better. Our job is to try to maintain them best we can with the budget we have," Green said. Michelle Bailey, a communications officer at the City of Winnipeg, said via email the city has limited resources and money that go into maintaining courts. " We do what we can with what we've got, keeping in mind we have numerous facilities of all kinds that need attention," Bailey said in the email. Some courts in the city are in better condition, including Cindy Klassen, Joe Malone and Maples Community Centre, she said. But the money for repairs can't always come from the city, Bailey said. Courts with cracks usually can't be repaired and need government funding or partnerships to be replaced. In some cases, other institutions have shared the cost of developing courts. For example, four tennis courts were developed by the Seven Oaks School Division and the city shares in their maintenance costs. Arndt said if the city can't maintain the number of courts it currently has, it should focus on maintaining fewer of them better. " I'd love to have less courts, but properly maintained courts. In this case less is more," he said. oliver. sachgau@ freepress. mb. ca Tennis anyone? City courts too decrepit: group By Oliver Sachgau BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Tennis courts in need of repair behind Margaret Grant Pool. The head of the provincial tennis group says maintenance is crucial. ' I'll never forgive what they did to him. I just don't want it to happen to anyone else' - Esther Grant, Brian Sinclair's older sister Sister's anger aired at inquest Sinclair's sibling says she shunned apology as probe into death begins By Kevin Rollason BORIS MINKEVICH / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Esther Grant, older sister of the late Brian Sinclair, holds a painting by artist Gord Hagman of her brother outside of the courthouse Tuesday. B_ 01_ Aug- 07- 13_ FP_ 01. indd B1 8/ 6/ 13 8: 34: 00 PM ;