Six months after 17-year-old Erik Edge died during a routine wisdom tooth removal, time stands still in Edge’s home.
His dogs are still waiting for him to come home. His shoes are sitting in the kitchen. And his bedroom is just as he left it after his father dropped him off at Liberty Oral and Facial Surgery on June 24.
It would be quick, said Mark Edge. But as the minutes passed, his son never came out.
Instead, the business was suddenly filled with paramedics and firefighters. As Mark jumped out of his car and ran inside, he fought with firefighters to let him back in to see his son. In a panic, he called his wife, Sarah.
The couple watched in disbelief as paramedics performed CPR on Erik, over and over, in what Sara described as “traumatic”. They couldn’t understand why their healthy, vibrant son was suddenly seconds from death from a routine surgery that millions of young Americans undergo each year.
“Something’s wrong,” firefighters told Edge’s family. “It doesn’t look good.”
By the time an ambulance crew rushed Eric to the hospital in hopes of reviving him, it was too late. He had died from a common reaction to anaesthesia, his mother said, which was “completely preventable”.
The Edge family filed a lawsuit Monday alleging that local oral surgeon Dr. Bryan McLelland could have prevented Erik’s reaction to the anesthesia, but he “didn’t respond” in time. McLelland chose to “wear two hats” that day, the suit says – playing both the role of anesthesiologist and surgeon in order to maximize profits.
McLelland’s attorney, Steve Lamberson, issued a statement on his client’s behalf Monday, calling Eric’s death unfortunate and unexpected.
“He and his staff have been deeply affected, but he followed safety protocols and maintained the standard of care,” Lamberson wrote in the statement. McLelland, he said, is prepared to defend his care and respond to the lawsuit.
Records from the Washington State Department of Health show McLelland is accredited with a dental license and general anesthesia license, which was renewed last year.
On the day of Erik’s death, McLelland brought Erik’s wallet and other items to the hospital. He repeatedly told the family how much medication he was given and how he wished he could trade places with Eric, Mark said. But at that moment he was looking at his son in shock.
“He was an incredible 17-year-old. He was our light, our sunshine, our person. He had great friends. He was in love for the first time. He was a hard worker,” Sarah said. “He was just a really great person.”
Erik was a student at Gonzaga Prep and was looking forward to his senior year. He also talked about his future, like attending Washington State University to become an engineer.
He was also the kind of kid who liked to fix cars and trucks, his family said. She persevered, worked hard and spent three years saving money to buy a 2001 Ford Ranger because she “wanted to win it,” Sara said.
“He was proud of it,” his mother said. “He had the best laugh and was just full of joy. Even if he was grumpy, he would be grumpy for 10 minutes. It just lit up every room.”
His brother, Zack Edge, said his energy is what he will remember most. It was contagious and radiated “joy and positivity all around.”
“He never had a bad word to say about anyone or anything. He just lived his life and didn’t really care about the typical things teenagers care about, like material things,” Zack said. “He knew what was important and what mattered. He cared about people. I think it’s rare. He was just a good soul.”
When Erik went to Honduras three years ago as part of a project to work with Living Water International to install wells in villages that don’t have water, he just “fell in love with it,” his mother said. He brought toys, played with the children and longed to communicate better with them. So when he returned to Washington, he learned to speak Spanish.
Eric will never make another trip to Honduras as he had planned, but his family has raised enough money to support what they refer to as “his legacy.”
“We will install a well in South Asia next year outside the health clinic named after him. It will serve up to 4,000 people to start,” Sara said. “This isn’t fixed and won’t bring Erik back… But it’s a way to honor him and his life.”
Grief is not linear, Erik’s parents say. Every day they cry, but also laugh every day.
Sara, who is a nurse, said if she had known there would not be an anesthetist in the room that day, they would never have let their son in. Her knowledge comes with her job, she said, but there are other parents who don’t know what to ask.
“Find out if there is a specialist, well-trained anesthetist or nurse anesthetist on staff. Ask if there is suitable equipment in the room. Ask what kind of training the staff has. Do they practice for events like this?’ Sarah said. “Make sure the crash cart, if present, has equipment that is up-to-date and not expired.”
The family’s lawyer, George Ahrend, said Erik’s reaction to anesthesia is so common that specialists prepare for it — that “if every anesthesiologist lost a patient when this complication occurred, every anesthesiologist would have a long trail of bodies. behind him. their career,” he said.
Ahrend, who is an attorney with the Luvera Law Firm, added that it is rare for someone to complete a surgical procedure while simultaneously administering, monitoring and responding to complications of anesthesia.
“This is something that was predictable, preventable and treatable,” he said. “Eric should have left that day.”
