Mother fighting kidney disease dies after not receiving proper medical care due to overwhelmed system

EDMONTON (CityNews) – A southern Alberta mother who was fighting kidney disease and holding off on getting the vaccine died after testing positive for COVID-19.

Now, her husband is speaking out as he fears his wife slipped through the cracks of an overwhelmed medical system.

“These hospitals are overworked, over-run. And it’s going to get worse as more unvaccinated people get sick,” said Christian Fox.

“We wanted to confirm with her kidney doctor, if she could get it or not, because of her disease we weren’t completely sure if it was safe or not for her. So we tried phoning him, for three months straight, it always went to voicemail.”

Fox feels his wife faced multiple issues with the system being overworked.

She went to the emergency room after catching COVID, where she was quickly discharged, telling her husband they only checked her vitals for COVID, even after she explained her high-risk medical conditions.

“I do, I feel if they had the time, the beds, they weren’t overworked, they would have checked out her kidneys, checked out her high blood pressure, and actually given it the concern. But when they are overworked and stressed, and they just want to get in and out.”

She was told to go home on a Friday and to come back if her breathing got worse. She died at home the following Tuesday.

“To check if she was breathing, and she was and there’s no issues until that morning… when she… when I found her,” explained Fox.

As Fox is left to reimagine his life as a single father, he is sharing Victoria’s story–not to shame the doctors who cared for her, but to help people understand.

“Getting the vaccinations, getting them in, and to protect everyone and themselves, and then the hospitals being over-run. These doctors need to get some relief.”

Victoria Fox was 36 years old when she died.