Calgary ICU nurse dies from apparent drug overdose

CALGARY – Hospitals are filling up with stress and anxiety as more patients are admitted due to COVID-19, and that’s causing a real toll on frontline health-care workers.

Dr. Verna Yiu, President and CEO of Alberta Health Services, announced a nurse had died from a drug overdose.

“Our frontline physicians and nurses are under extreme stress and pressure,” she said.

“The pandemic is impacting individuals and our teams both physically and mentally.”

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The nurse died this week.

On Sept. 17, she made a Facebook post detailing what she had to deal with as a frontline health-care worker during the pandemic.

“As I was redeployed to my ICU I continued to do my job despite the conspiracy theories and the people ‘claiming their rights’ were being taken away,” she wrote.

“Fast forward to ‘the best summer ever’ as us healthcare workers cried, and we are scared. We have PTSD, went on medical leave, and even quit because every single one of us saw this wave coming.”

She leaves behind two little girls.

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“I see a daughter say goodbye to her dad after she gave him COVID and I’ve stopped the ventilator. I see a husband and wife die days apart in their 40s previously healthy,” she continued.

“Now I’m tired. I cry before my shifts. I have severe anxiety but I still give the best care I can.”

Her boyfriend mourned her passing on Facebook.

“My heart is broken my love left this world on Sept. 27 and I’m in shock. Baby you made me feel truly seen and loved like no other and I’ll miss you endlessly see you in heaven with all the angels and thank you for the time we had it was a blessing,” he wrote.