Cape Breton woman wants her daughter moved from Alberta hospital
A woman from Cape Breton believes her adult daughter, in hospital in Alberta, would recover much more quickly if she could see her own child, along with family and friends back home.
Shirley Leadbeater of New Waterford, Cape Breton, says her 24-year-old daughter Natasha had not been feeling well for several months last year, but a diagnosis eluded doctors.
Just before Christmas, she was admitted to hospital in Fort MacMurray, finally diagnosed with a rare viral infection.
But Leadbeater told CBC, the initial treatment didn't help.
"They were giving her antibiotics but they weren't the proper antibiotics for the infection. Then her body became septic and her organs started to shut down. Her heart got damaged," says Leadbeater.
Close to death, Natasha was airlifted to hospital in Edmonton, where she remains.
Leadbeater has been at her bedside the whole time, but says Natasha misses her own three-year-old daughter. The child is currently living with her other grandparents in Newfoundland.
Leadbeater says Natasha wants to be in Cape Breton, closer to her daughter, and other family and friends. However, there is no medical reason to move her from Altberta and she's not ready to fly commercial.
"She can't move. She has no muscle mass," says Leadbeater. "So even to take her on a commercial flight, she's not strong enough. So she needs to be transported by air ambulance from here to Cape Breton."
That, says Leadbeater, would cost in the range of $40,000 — an impossible amount for the family.
Leadbeater is reaching out through social media for information about any foundation or organization that might be able to help.
