(The Canadian Press circulated the following story on September 2.)
MONTREAL — Enid Churchill was a healthy, active 75-year-old until she suffered a stroke on a Via Rail train somewhere between Toronto and Montreal. Now she is paralyzed on her right side and can’t speak.
Her three daughters have spent the summer trying to find out what happened to her when she suffered the stroke June 16 and why an ambulance was not called until 20 minutes after the train reached its destination.
Churchill was found confused and alone on the train by a member of the cleaning crew.
“Instead of an emergency evacuation, my mom was the very last person to leave the train,” said Barbara Commander from her home in Brampton.
Judging by severe bruising on her right arm, doctors at the Royal Victoria hospital concluded Churchill likely fell while on the train, sometime between 11: 20 a.m. when she boarded in Toronto, and 4:57 p.m., when the train arrived in Montreal, Commander said.
The fall may have caused the stroke, or vice versa, doctors said.
It wasn’t until 8 p.m., after calling Via Rail several times and filing a missing person’s report, that her family was notified by the Royal Victoria hospital.
CN security was called 13 minutes after the train arrived and an ambulance came about 10 minutes later.
Transport Canada is investigating the incident.