First week in review: Chaos, shocking revelations and perjury at its worse.

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:

Source: Lethbridge Herald. David Stephan interviewed outside the Court House in Lethbridge Alberta

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Day one
No Symptoms; more questions than answers.

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.

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Answers and clues: Quite literally, nothing lined up

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.

X-Ray showing a mass of air in Ezekiel's stomach that was forcing his left lung, heart and trachea to the right.

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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.

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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)

Facebook post referred to by Dr. Lloyd Taylor Clarke.

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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.

X-Ray taken of Ezekiel Stephan shortly after arrival to the Cardston Hospital.

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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.  

text from the trial transcript where Dr. Lloyd Clarke testified on his first day that he was involved in the intubation in the back of the ambulance. He later recantted the testimony saying that he had forgotten what happened that day and now had a better memmory of it.

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