Family told autopsy results for 14-year-old who died unexpectedly could take up to a year-صحيفة الصوت

A Winnipeg family says they’ve been told they may have to wait as long as a year to find out what caused their 14-year-old daughter’s death.

Talina Rampersad-Husack died suddenly on July 17 in the intensive care unit at the Children’s Hospital, her obituary says.

Details about her illness are unclear, leaving her family to wonder what exactly led to her death. An autopsy was done, but Talina’s family says they were told it could take up to a year to get the final results.

“No parent should have to wait one year to find out how their healthy, vibrant 14-year-old daughter died,” a family spokesperson said in a statement to CBC News.

Longtime family friend Nahanni Fontaine, who’s also the MLA for St. John’s in Winnipeg, said the teen’s family was devastated to not know what ultimately led to her death — and to learn they’d have to wait so long to find out.

“The death of a child is something that none of us would wish on anybody. But to add this to that process … it’s heartbreaking,” said Fontaine.

“I think that everybody can agree that it’s wholly unacceptable to ask a family to wait for a year to find out how their loved one passed.”

Fontaine said Talina died just over two weeks after falling ill on the day of her Grade 8 graduation at the end of June.

Kathryn Braun, director of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Manitoba, said in an email in some cases there are special tests that need to be done as part of an autopsy to provide an accurate cause of death.

That means it can take up to a year to get a final autopsy report, though the actual autopsy is done as soon as possible, said Braun, whose office investigates sudden deaths and orders autopsies in the province.

The actual time frame for a final autopsy report depends on the case, she said.

A spokesperson for Shared Health said some tests required for certain autopsies take longer because they are sent to specialized labs for analysis to ensure quality and accuracy.

That can extend the timeline for completing an autopsy report by several months, though results are usually ready in three to six months, the spokesperson said in an email.

Next of kin are usually given the longer timeline, since forensic pathologists can’t foresee how complex the case will be at the start of their investigations, the spokesperson said.

Forensic pathologists in Manitoba now conduct about 1,800 autopsies a year, up from 1,500 annually two years ago, Shared Health told CBC News in April.

The spokesperson for Talina’s family said that if a year-long wait is the status quo, then “the status quo is not acceptable.”