4 years after Indigenous woman died in Niagara hospital waiting room, family still waits for coroner's inquest

Four years after a 24-year-old Indigenous woman died in a St. Catharines, Ont., hospital, her family is still waiting for a coroner's inquest to find out why she wasn't provided with more medical care.

Heather Winterstein went to the Marotta Family Hospital, formerly called the St. Catharines General Hospital, on Dec. 9, 2021 with a severe backache, her family previously told CBC Hamilton. She was sent home with Tylenol but returned the next day and collapsed in the waiting area.

She died shortly after. Her family later found out the cause was a Strep A blood infection.

"Heather's death devastated us," said Winterstein's aunt, Jill Lunn, in an email this week.

"Her family believes that her death was preventable."

Inquest announced into death of woman who went to St. Catharines hospita