WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – Today, Zander Perez is four years old. Too young, his father says to understand where his mom is.
His mother, Lindsay (Crump) Perez always wanted to be a mother.
Her widower, Edgar Perez, says she gave so much love to her drama students at Stuckey Middle School, but she always wanted to give it to a child of her own.
That’s why Zander was a dream come true.
“He looks just like his mom,” Edgar said.
Lindsay died four hours after Zander was born at Wesley Medical Center. The family sued the hospital for medical malpractice, claiming the nurse failed to let the doctor know that Lindsay was experiencing pulmonary edema.
“Lindsay could be by my side right now if they would have done their job,” Edgar said.
A scrapbook created by one of Lindsay’s former students at Stuckey was used as evidence in court. The pages are filled with memories of Lindsay for Zander and Edgar to read.
The jury awarded $6.5 million in total damages in the medical malpractice case.
According to the lawsuit, Lindsay was 35 weeks pregnant when she gave birth to Zander via emergency C-section. Lindsay coughed throughout her recovery after giving birth. She was given a chest x-ray which revealed
“pulmonary opacities, most likely related to edema.”
The suit says medicine was ordered to help Lindsay, and doctors discussed her results, but Lindsey’s health began failing and she became pulse-less. A autopsy revealed edema (swelling) and congestion in both of her lungs.
Representatives from Wesley declined an on-camera interview but shared the following statement:
“While our hearts go out to the Perez family, Wesley Healthcare continues to believe that the provider and staff involved did everything possible and that no wrongdoing took place.“
Statement from Wesley Healthcare representative
A local jury returned a $6.5 million verdict on Tuesday to Edgar and Zander Perez. Brad Prochaska, attorney for the family, said the jury listened to two and a half weeks of evidence before taking two hours to return the verdict.
