Vuongs v. St. Joe's

The Vuongs* have faced monumental challenges, before.

They've ploughed through mud up to their shoulders. And they've ducked the beams from search lights that scanned the dark shores of the Mekong Delta.

It was 1990. And crouched in the reeds was a dory, waiting to take the young couple to a small fishing boat, farther out. Both vessels would be overloaded. But not as badly as other boats that sunk from greater weight. Their passengers were so desperate to leave communist Vietnam, they gambled all. And they lost.

With Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, a receding memory, the small fishing boat chugged across the South China Sea. By day two, with adrenalin still flowing in their systems, the passengers were subsisting on the small packets of dried food they had been allowed to bring. Water was forbidden; it was too heavy. Dehydration was a short-term risk for those who wanted a better future. In freedom. Under the rule of law.

During their stay in a camp for displaced persons in Indonesia, the Vuongs received sponsorship from Canada. It was a welcomed relief. They arrived in London, Ontario during a blast of winter. But no matter. They knew they would make it. They felt safe, at last. Until they experienced a crushing blow the following year. Their first-born, Danny, sustained irreparable damage while in the birth canal. It resulted from simple negligence, attributed to an attending nurse at St. Joseph's Health Care in London.

Today, Danny Vuong is 17 years old. He is utterly unable to defend himself.

Chris Beckett of Ledroit Beckett in London has represented the Vuongs during the past eight years. He was building their case for the five-week trial that began in mid-January, 2009.

Deb Berlach of Stieber Berlach in Toronto, represented St. Joseph’s Health Care, which had hired the nurse whose actions were in question.

The Superior Courtroom at London’s Court of Justice is dominated by a large coat of arms, hanging high from the wood-panelled wall, behind the Judge’s seat. On the insignia, a golden lion and a white unicorn flank a blue shield. It is circled by a belt with the words "Honi soit qui mal y pense" (evil to him who evil thinks), and a gold buckle to remind us of the royal Order of the Garter. At the base, lie the words "Dieu et mon droit" (God and my Law). The coat of arms provides one of the only sources of colour, other than the sash that cuts a red diagonal from the judge's shoulder, and his badge of gold and red. All else is a sombre sea of black gowns and white collars and tabs, hovering over tables of paper-white documents, stacked in columns.

The Honourable Justice Wolfram Tausendfreund listened intently as the wheels of justice ground over the gnarled terrain of medical detail. To bolster each side of the case, Beckett and Berlach had plucked their expert witnesses among nurses, obstetricians and pediatric specialists. Each witness underwent examination before coming in the crosshairs of the opposing litigator. Through discovery, clarity was distilled from the complexities. It was a journey of significance.

Prior to his elegant closing statement, Justice Tausendfreund mentioned to counsel that he would read the legal submissions this summer. Suspecting his decision in the fall, I hope justice prevails. For Danny’s sake.


* Of Chinese heritage, the name Vuong is pronounced Wuang, but it has used Vietnamese spelling since the elders fled communism in China for Vietnam. Little did they realize that their adopted homeland would also topple, decades later.

Organ donation redux

Organ and tissue donation needs more publicity than my blogging efforts. So imagine my surprise when I came across a related ad in, of all places, the weathernetwork.com.

It goes like this. Ontario has instituted new rules on organ and tissue donation. If you marked "Yes" to the question of whether you wish to donate your tissue or organs, your answer will be stored in the database of the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP). And it will be forwarded, at an appropriate time, to the Trillium Gift of Life Network (TGLN), Ontario's provincial organ donation agency. If, on the other hand, you recorded "No" or "Undecided", neither of these answers will be disclosed to the TGLN.

These steps point to a greater organization in organ and tissue donation. They also remind us of how important it is to tell loved ones of our wishes. If we don't, those who advocate on our behalf can't convey the necessary information to health professionals at "the relevant time". Meaning, at or near the end of our life.

There may be no guarantee for interpreting our exact wishes at "the relevant time". We are evolving. By millimeters.