(WHDH) — A man who had to be flown to the hospital after a routine medical procedure went “terribly wrong” died while waiting for a spot in the intensive care unit, according to family.
Rob Van Pelt, 44, of Kansas, flatlined under light sedation during what was supposed to be a 20-minute appointment, family members said in a GoFundMe post. He was left unresponsive and had to be rushed to a hospital with a neurology center due to possible damage to the brain and prolonged brain seizure activity.
Van Pelt passed away before being seen by doctors because the ICU was packed full with COVID-19 patients, KWCH-TV reported.
“There are a lot of people who don’t believe the hospitals are full. That’s really hard to listen to when one of my friends’ husband was lying in a hospital dying because he couldn’t get the treatment he needed because the beds were full,” a family friend told the news outlet.
Health care officials reached out to hospitals in 20 states in search of an ICU bed but they were all overrun with people suffering from virus complications, the family friend added.
The GoFundMe has since raised nearly $10,000.
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