Michigan – April Walters, a 46-year-old woman, died in the parking lot of the Southfield Dental Care on April 8, after a visit to the dentist where she was meant to get 18 teeth pulled out due to an infection. The family of Walters is grieving and wants answers.
The lady had respiratory illnesses, sarcoidosis, COPD, diabetes, asthma and high blood pressure, and she was also on oxygen. The family said none of those were life-threatening.
That Friday, her sister, Crystal Cutright, took her to see Dr. Ranna Rabban, around 10 a.m. First, the medical assistant took her vital signs and, according to her daughter, Amber Waddell, they looked very concerned.
Waddell talked to WJBK, a Fox owned-and-operated television station located in Detroit, and said:
“Her heart rate was still 130, the dentist came in, ready to do the procedure. The dental assistant said ‘I am waiting for her heart rate to come down.’ The dentist said ‘We’re fine’ and the procedure starts.”
Even though she needed to get 18 teeth taken out, after 16 teeth were pulled, the dentist said they were done for the day. Dr. Rabban told Walter’s sister to take her to see a doctor and get her heart checked out.
As Cutright was trying to get her sister and the oxygen tank into the car, Walters said she could not breathe. Cutright thought the oxygen in the tank was low, so she went back into the doctor’s office and asked for help. Even though the staff came out with more oxygen, no one knew how to perform CPR, and they were just rubbing her chest.
Waddell’s daughter said that when the dentist came out she started yelling at Cutright saying that she told her to take her to the hospital, so she yelled back at her and said that she needed to get her in the car in order to do that. Even though an ambulance was called, Waddell said it was too late.
An investigation into Walters’ death has started
Workers from the dentist office started to express their concern, saying that they feel sorry for what happened and that their thoughts and prayers are out to the family. They also added that they are looking into everything that happened that Friday.
Amber Waddell set up a GoFundMe page to help with funeral costs, and it exceeded the expectations, being its goal $2,000.
Source: Fox 2