Woman says she had to wait for ER to open as husband had seizure

A Prince Rupert woman says emergency room closures plaguing the British Columbia port city forced her to make an “impossible” choice when her husband had a severe epileptic seizure early Monday morning.

Tish Losier says she awoke around 6 a.m. to her husband, Joe Budniksy, shaking in bed and called 911. Budnisky was diagnosed with epilepsy last year and takes medication for it daily.

But when the ambulance arrived, Losier says paramedics advised her it would be faster to wait for the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital’s emergency department to open at 8 a.m. rather than make the 140-kilometre drive to the nearest open