By Trelle Kolojay

Sister grieving death of sibling before Christmas

Dec 13, 2014 | 9:20 AM

Michelle Pearson wanted to fly her sister, Erika Holland, home from Saskatoon to Ladysmith, B.C. for Christmas, but instead, Pearson took the flight alone; her sister’s ashes by her side.

“Her and I were supposed to grow old together,” Pearson said, pausing as her voice breaks. “I have a two-and-a-half year old at home. I don’t know how to explain where his auntie went to.”

As Pearson searches for the words to tell her son about death, she is also searching for a way to accept a new reality without her sister.

“I am beyond lost. My sister was my best friend. Her and I were so close,” she said.

Pearson said her sister came to Saskatchewan for her dream job as an addictions councillor.

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“She wanted to be back at work in the new year. She was so hopeful and had so much more life to live,” she said.

The death of Pearson’s sister is causing even more heartbreak because doctors are unsure why Holland died.

“I don’t know how to make sense of any of this, and she shouldn’t have died, and both medical doctors I spoke with can’t explain it,” Pearson said.

Pearson said her sister was initially admitted to hospital in Prince Albert for surgery after an ovarian cyst ruptured. She was transferred to St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon last August because of persistent bowel problems were not going away.

Now, Pearson said an investigation is underway at the hospital to figure out what caused her sister’s death.

“I feel like I have no answers,” she said.

Pearson hopes to someday find those answers, but for now, she’s left with questions and an ache that won’t go away.

The Saskatoon Health Region advises anyone concerned about loved ones or themselves at a local health facility to contact Client Representative Services at 306-655-0250 or 1-866-655-5066 or by emailing client.rep@saskatoonhealthregion.ca.

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