Sam Weeper’s wife, Sheralyn, a te reo Māori teacher at Bayfield High School, died two years ago on the day she was due to fly to Sydney for a life-saving heart transplant.
She was 48.
The Weepers family believe a delay in admittance to Dunedin Hospital’s catheterisation laboratory (cath lab) — where treatments such as the insertion of stents and pacemakers are done — caused severe damage to Mrs Tipene-Weepers’ heart and ultimately contributed to her death.
Her husband, and the rest of her family, are now advocating for no other families or Dunedin residents to have to face the same situation.
A petition, called "Provide full 24/7 access to Dunedin Public Hospital Catheterisation Laboratory", set up by the Sheralyn Tipene-Weepers Charitable Trust, is now accepting support and signatures.
"The end result for me is I want her to be remembered, so her life was not a waste, that she’s honoured," Mr Weepers said.
The family want Dunedin Hospital to have a fulltime operational cath lab, instead of one closed at the weekend to all but acute cases.
On May 13, 2022 — a Friday — Mrs Tipene-Weepers went to Dunedin Hospital at 11pm, where she was diagnosed with symptoms of a heart attack.
It was written in her file that Mrs Tipene-Weepers had been diagnosed with spontaneous coronary artery dissection more than a decade before, but it was decided the cardiologist on call at the time would not be called in.
Mr Weepers recalled being told his wife would need to wait until Monday and that she was fourth on the priority list to be seen.
"She needed care, but they would not open the lab, because it was the weekend," Mr Weepers said.
She stayed in hospital but had a heart attack at 2am on Monday, then was resuscitated and transferred to the Dunedin intensive care unit.
Mr Weepers said her heart had suffered irreparable damage, and she was soon after diagnosed with heart failure — she was deemed too high risk for cardiac surgery in New Zealand and was declined.
In May 2023, the couple flew to Adelaide for cardiac surgery, but while there were told Mrs Tipene-Weepers needed a full heart transplant.
She was due to fly to Sydney for the procedure, but before then she had an unexpected suspected ventricular fibrillation and died despite resuscitation efforts.
For over a year, her husband has stood outside Dunedin Hospital at the weekends, and during school holidays throughout the week, protesting the weekend closure of the cath lab to everyone not assessed as in need of urgent care.
"Just because it’s a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, it shouldn’t matter — it should be open for anyone who needs it."
In a previous story, Heath New Zealand Te Whatu Ora told the Otago Daily Times it stood by its decision not to treat Mrs Tipene-Weepers in the cath lab during the weekend.
Southern group director of operations Craig Ashton said HNZ had completed a thorough internal review of the case and was satisfied with the assessment and treatment provided to Mrs Tipene-Weepers.
"All patients are clinically assessed and have access to the cath lab for any acute or clinically urgent situations," he said.
Yesterday, Mr Weepers said he had received many signatures from people passing by when he was outside the hospital picketing — many of whom were healthcare workers.
"I’m only petitioning for one little service. It hasn’t mattered which government actually, whether they’re red or blue — they don’t fund public health nearly enough."
He said the longer it took to take action when people needed cardiology care, the more heart muscle that died.
"Sheralyn’s heart muscle died significantly as a result of them not treating her when she needed to be treated — early intervention saves heart muscle, and lives."
The New Zealand Parliament website said the petition would close on January 25, the date Mr Weepers and his wife got engaged many years ago.
At present, the petition has 113 official signatures.
