In July, a coroner’s inquest was called last month into the death of 14-year old Brandon Shafer-Kovacs in November of 2022. Brandon had significant mental health issues and was at Eagle’s Nest Youth Ranch when he reported feeling ill.
Monday was the first day of the inquest with several witnesses and speakers answering questions about what had led to Brandon’s death.
Dr. Gregory Henson was Brandon’s doctor the night he died. Dr. Henson confirmed Monday that Brandon had arrived at the Jim Pattison’s Children Hospital on Nov. 25, 2022. Brandon was in septic shock when he arrived. His lungs, kidney, heart and immune system where all in failure and Brandon had to be placed on life support.
Dr. Henson revealed that Brandon had a combination of influenza A and strep. The combination of those two conditions then turned into necrotizing pneumonia, otherwise known as “dying lung.”
Dr. Henson admits that having influenza A or strep alone would not have a high mortality rate, but having them at the same time without proper treatment can become deadly, telling the inquest that he believed if Brandon had been taken to the hospital sooner, he may have survived.
It is not known where Brandon contracted the illness, but Canada was in the midst of a bad influenza season, according to the doctor.
Three care workers also spoke about how they cared for Brandon while he was sick starting around Nov. 18. Brandon was tested for COVID-19 right away, with the results coming back negative. This meant he did not need to be isolated, according to the care home.
However, according to Brandon’s family, they were denied a visit on Monday by his case worker, saying “he was in isolation.” One worker, Valentina Perrin, recalled that Brandon had cold-like symptoms leading up to his death. In a log shared by the staff, Perrin wrote that he was “horribly sick”.
To help Brandon, Perrin administered Buckleys, Tylenol, Advil and Dayquil over the following days according to the instructions on the package. She also made a homemade Pedialite for Brandon after her request to have some purchased was ignore.
Perrin described Brandon having back pain, cracked bleeding lips and not moving round much. She also made mention that Brandon was not really eating or drinking. On Tuesday, Nov. 22, Perrin advocated for Brandon to stay home from school because he was not getting any better, but the program manager ultimately decided to make him go.
On Tuesday, another employee, Kamya Thompson, shared that she was asked to come over from the regular house she attends to keep an eye on Brandon. Although Thompson did not know Brandon very well, she said she could tell he was very sick.
At the start of her shift, she was told Brandon may have vomited and that he had wet the bed. Thompson described Brandon as pale, not eating or drinking and low energy. All three employees who spoke Monday made constant mention that a big red flag for them was how different Brandon had become, no longer full of energy and cheery.
Thompson had a gut feeling Brandon needed to go to the hospital, but when she brought up her concerns to other staff, she was told he was most likely acting the way he was to skip school. Thompson admitted that Brandon did not specifically ask her to go to the hospital, but she had heard murmurs that other staff were asked.
On Thursday, Perrin recalls feeling as though Brandon did need to go to the hospital, telling supervisors she felt something was really wrong. She was told to let Brandon sleep the night and they could take him to the hospital in the morning.
Brendan arrived the hospital Friday shortly after 8 a.m. and was pronounced dead three days later at 7:31 p.m. in the PICU.
Brandon’s mother, Chantelle Shafer, spoke Monday, saying when Brandon initially went to the hospital, she had received a text saying he was “safe and warm” adding that she thought that meant he wasn’t in a dire situation. It was not until she received a photo of her son with several tubes around his body that he knew things were serious.
Chantelle testified that her son was “begging for help” from staff before his health took a turn for the worst.
The coroner’s inquest is set to reconvene Tuesday, with seven witnesses prepared to share their testimony.