The emergency room doctor who treated Abdirahman Abdi after his violent altercation with Ottawa police officers says he did not get a clear picture from police that day of the circumstances that brought Abdi to hospital.
Instead, Dr. Kwadwo Kyeremanteng told a coroner’s inquest Monday that most of the information he received came either indirectly from paramedics or directly from Abdi’s family.
“Getting the story from the family added to the clarity,” Kyeremanteng testified during Day 6 of the inquest into Abdi’s death on July 25, 2016.
The previous day, Abdi, who was mentally ill, was involved in a struggle with two police officers during which one punched Abdi in the head more than once after he had been kicked, pepper sprayed and struck with a baton by the other officer.
Abdi died of cardiac arrest.
Kyeremanteng said Abdi showed signs of a potentially serious brain jury, and that he approached two police officers to ask for details about the circumstances.
“I do recall having them [mentioning] the pepper spray and having a conversation about that. I don’t recall having a conversation about the baton and being punched,” he said, noting that he has approached police before “when things aren’t clear.”
In Abdi’s case, Kyeremanteng sought police info “because the cause of his cardiac arrest was not clear,” he testified.
“Why would a guy in his late 30s all of a sudden pass away of cardiac arrest?” he recalled doctors wondering at one point.
Abdi’s death was ultimately investigated by Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit, which charged the officer who delivered the head blows with manslaughter. A judge later found that officer not guilty.
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Family spoke of assault
Later during Kyeremanteng’s Monday testimony, he was asked if he received information from police about any physical interactions Abdi had with officers.
“To the best of my recollection, no,” he said.
“After your discussions with police, did you have a clear or detailed picture of what had led Mr. Abdi to be admitted to hospital?” the inquest lawyer then asked.
“No,” he replied.
Kyeremanteng said he talked to Abdi’s family who spoke of an “assault.”
“What I recall was getting a description of … what happened physically to him, which added to the clarity,” he said.
Near the end of his testimony, Kyeremanteng clarified that the lack of information affected Abdi’s treatment but not his medical outcome. But information gaps in general can affect a patient’s treatment outcomes, he added.
Abdi’s condition met the criteria for a brain death and he was pronounced dead the day after the altercation.
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The officer who punched Abdi, Cst. Daniel Montsion was asked last week if he told paramedics he’d struck Abdi in the head before they took him to the hospital.
Another inquest lawyer appeared surprised when Montsion said that he had.
“I’m going to suggest to you that the information about Mr. Abdi being struck in the head was not something you conveyed to the paramedics,” the lawyer said.
“I would say that that’s wrong,” Montsion replied.
What caused Abdi’s cardiac arrest?
Kyeremanteng’s testimony also delved into an area familiar to anyone who followed Montsion’s trial for manslaughter in 2019 and 2020: namely, the cause of Abdi’s cardiac arrest.
“My humble opinion is that because there was damage that happened into his face and he was bleeding, it would have been difficult for him to breathe because of the blood that was tracking down and because of the swelling that was happening in and around his face,” Kyeremanteng said.
“And I think he was unable to either get enough oxygen or blow off enough of this carbon dioxide. If I had to put my humble opinion, that was what would have led to the arrest.”
Abdi lost consciousness after being punched and handcuffed, the inquest has heard — which “100 per cent” put him at increased risk of airway problems, Kyeremanteng said.
Likewise, the Crown argued during Monstion’s trial that the head injuries Abdi sustained were a significant contributing cause of death.
The judge cited evidence that Abdi was at risk of cardiac arrest at any time due to an underlying condition, and wrote that he could not agree with the Crown because “the interaction in the alcove was part of a series of events.”
