Court of Queen's Bench heard Monday that almost all records of a visit by 18 month old Ezekiel Stephan to the Chinook Regional Hospital were missing.  

On March 14th, 2012, 18 month old Ezekiel Stephan entered the Chinook Regional Hospital with a medical team from Cardston Alberta.  What was supposed to be a routine stop over on their way to Alberta Children's Hospital quickly became every parents nightmare.  

On Monday June 18, 2019 in the Court of Queen's bench Dr. Shauna Burkholder directed the Court to evidence of a Severe Cardiac Event in the Lethbridge Hospital that took place during the period where records are missing. 

​She pointed out it was the result of a mistake by Dr. Alexander Cunningham where he has began to ween 18 month old Ezekiel Stephan off a medication he was relying on to live.

Ok, so this is a tough post.  It was tough to watch and its going to be even harder to express what I saw as I sat in the court room.  Eye opening for sure. 

At times I have thought there is no humanity! But then I see the absolutely heart wrenching efforts of a father standing at the front of a room against all odds, doing everything he can to shelter and protect his wife and other 4 children.  And I melt.  

The finger pointing has started.  There is a lot of it.  It seems that every medical professional involved remembers things about what the others have done wrong but when a question comes up about their conduct they either can't remember or are suddenly unqualified to speak to the event.  

I'm going to break it down for you:

Day one of the trial was not a surprise. 

Registered Nurse and friend of Ezekiel's mother, Terrie Shaw testified that she visited and checked Ezekiel's vitals. 

Collet Stephan had complained that he was more tired than usual and appeared to be achy with muscle stiffness.

Terrie testified that there was nothing she could see of concern and that if Collet wanted to know more then to take Ezekiel into a doctor.   They looked up viral meningitis as a possible reason for the muscle stiffness but Ezekiel did not have the symptoms to match that either.

Ken Cherinowski, paramedic testified:

• the EMS had not secured the endotracheal (breathing)  tube. 
• That they were driving while holding it by hand. 
• That a mass of air had entered Ezekiel's stomach as a result of too much pressure on the bag valve mask or possibly and endotracheal tube being placed in the esophagus rather than the trachea.  
• The bag valve mask and laryngeal mask would not seal or get "Chest rise" because they had been destocked and they did not have pediatric airway supplies.
• The PCRs were left "open" for days after the incident and not finalized.  This was for "accuracy" so they could add stuff later.

Dr Lloyd Clark testified:

• ​That his medical report was wrong.
• That Dr. Cunningham's medical report was wrong.
• That his recorded conversations were wrong.
• That the Cardiopulmonary Report was wrong.
• That his testimony from the last trial was wrong.
• That his memory was not accurate and the medical records were important.
• That all the documents showing he was involved in an intubation in the back of the ambulance were incorrect and that the intubation did not happen.
• That the Ambulance achieved an airway before arrival, this in spite of a recorded conversation being played that had him discussing the ambulance issue as 12 minutes of travel without getting air into 18 month old Ezekiel Stephan.

A concern was raised over Dr. Clarkes previous notoriety which he earned in 2018 when he made some hard remarks to a group of homeless Natives in the small Southern Town of Cardston Alberta.  News of his actions made national headlines.   

• ​Dr. Lloyd Clark testified that it was because of the Stephan's case that he had misbehaved during this time.
• He then accused a member of the Stephan Family of calling him a murderer and perjurer on social media.  
• He then testified that after hearing that the case was going back to court that he felt the need to seek legal representation.  (His Bennet Jones Lawyer accompanied him to court where he indicated that he would likely be representing Dr. Clarke in the civil litigation to follow the trial)

Dr. Clark then continued on with his testimony.  When asked to identify an X-ray he had ordered and interpreted he testified:

• he was unqualified to give testimony on the film.  

The justice promptly straightened him out. 

The Xray seen to the right shows a zoom in on the trachea.  You can see on the film that the trachea, lungs and heart are all offset to the childs right side.  

This could create catastrophic "intubation difficulties".
You can aslo see a dark spot in his trachea about the same size as the intubation tube.  In the autopsy photos a deep gouge was found directly below this spot.  

The medical Examiner would later testify that Ezekiel did not have an infection in his lung.  It formed only on the outside of the lung.  It is believed that the intubation tube placed in the back of the ambulance in the ambulance bay punctured Ezekiels Plural Cavity and created the infection.

Dr. Clarke was asked if he knew anything about a tracheal tear.  He responded that it was the first time he had heard of it.  

He was then shown the contents of the social media post he had complained about.  The contents were exclusively limited to discussion surrounding a tracheal puncture.  

At this point he claimed he was not qualified to speak to the difference between a tracheal tear and a tracheal puncture.  

Thank you to the individuals who have provided information thus far. Many people from AHS have come forward and have either provided information or told us to stop digging.  Either way its been telling and has assisted us in determining who and what we need to focus on in the coming weeks of trial.   

There is a current claim that Medical staff were too busy to document during this time.

​Medical expert Shawna Burkholder testified of a severe cardiac issue while Ezekiel was in the Lethbridge Regional Hospital.  She indicated this was a result of a Doctor from Cardston reducing Ezekiel's medication.   The records surrounding this time are undiscoverable!  We need your help!

Missing medical records have left large gaps in Ezekiel Stephan's care.  Missing blood culture reports, un-finalized PCRs, missing charts and logs are all issues currently being dealt with during the Stephan trial. 

Most concerning are is the fact that there is a large gap in records while a severe cardiac arrest was taking place, and evidence of a lethal overdose has been found.

You or someone you know knows something about this case. Please contact us gordonrockinvestigations@protonmail.com ​ 
​This Family needs your help.

​Court heard this week that Logs, charts and recorded phone calls from the Cardston Alberta Hospital all showed promise of a full or near full recovery for Ezekiel Stephan. 

Ezekiel Stephan was transferred from the Cardston Alberta Hospital to the Lethbridge Alberta hospital.  During transport, records show that he improved continually.

Here is where it gets sketchy.  Medical logs, charts and records are almost entirely missing from 00:25 to 01:40.

During this time notes from other doctors at the Alberta Children's Hospital record numerous procedures and a now uncharted Cardiac Arrest.   No charts, logs or records have ever been provided for over 55 minutes of this time frame.  We do not know the identities of who witnessed the events at the Lethbridge Hospital and Alberta Health Services is claiming they have turned over all of the files that are now in their possession.

Records provided from this time frame have the attending physician stating "I was not involved..." Leaving the Stephan family wondering what he wasn't involved with.  The ER Doctor who lives next to Ezekiel's grandfather now claims to have no memory of the events that took place that night.

No one has been willing to talk and the Medical Doctors who were involved have all now lawyered up with the legal firm Bennett- Jones.  

​

Newly acquired medical records show that Ezekiel did not have Meningitis.  This new information paints a grim picture of events that took place in the Lethbridge Regional Hospital.

Friday May 31, 2019 saw three hearings in the Lethbridge Court of Queen's Bench involving the parents of Ezekiel Stephan.

My head is still reeling from what I witnessed.  I can only describe it as confusion, misrepresentations, strategic maneuvering and a complete lack of professionalism on all accounts.  

Here's the breakdown of what took place:

The stay application was interesting.  It started with David Stephan presenting a note from the Office of the Medical Examiner as an exhibit.  In this note the writer noted that Valerie Wallace from the Crown's office called to ask if the Medical Examiner was aware of some evidence being sought by the Defence counsel. 

She then proceeded to tell the writer that she did not want the evidence sent to her or for the ME's office to acquire it.  She just wanted to know where to find it.