SURREY — Why Ernest Azah Azoadam, 16, died will remain a medical mystery.
Coroner Mary-Clare O’Reilly has determined that the teenager who was pronounced dead in Surrey Memorial Hospital after collapsing aboard a party bus in Surrey on Feb. 15, 2013, died “of an undetermined cause.
“I classify this death as undetermined and make no recommendations,†O’Reilly concluded in her report, filed last week.
Last year, the BC Coroners Service ruled out drugs and alcohol as contributing factors in the teenager’s sudden death.
Azoadam had seen his family doctor in the month prior to his death, complaining of a persistent cough. Otherwise, he had no significant medical history. The postmortem exam didn’t reveal any major trauma, infection or catastrophic vascular disruption that would have caused or contributed to his death. Nor was there evidence of inflammatory cells or enlargement of his heart. Toxicology tests found ethyl alcohol (0.11 per cent) in his blood, and evidence of prior cannabis use.
“The toxicological examination did not identify any combination of drug/medication/volatile that would suffice to explain the death,†O’Reilly found. She noted that marijuana and alcohol are sedatives “and it is possible that the combination could alter consciousness and breathing.
“Although uncommon, marijuana use has occasionally been associated with marked hypotension and cardiovascular collapse.†Still, Azoadam wasn’t seen smoking pot on the bus and had only been known to have drank alcohol earlier that day.
“It is important to note that certain cardiac arrhythmias that lack diagnostic findings at autopsy should also be considered,†O’Reilly noted.
After collapsing Azoadam remained flat-lined, despite all efforts to revive him.
He had been celebrating a friend’s birthday on a party bus rented from Favori Limousine Service and boarded the bus with about 30 other young people, including his brother, shortly after 9 p.m. at Burnsview secondary school in North Delta.
O’Reilly noted that some passengers reported to police that alcohol, marijuana were being used. The bus made three stops and Azoadam was reportedly fine during the first two. The first stop was in the “country side,†the second at a McDonald’s and the third at a gas station in the 15200-block of 72nd Avenue.
Moments prior to the third stop, he suddenly collapsed while dancing. His brother and three other passengers helped him from bus, and his brother called 911.
O’Reilly encountered “some conflicting reports†about the third stop. There was a five-minute gap from his collapse to the first CPR attempt. Some passengers, and the driver, said the third stop was for a bathroom break, but other passengers reported the teen had collapsed moments before the bus stopped at the gas station.
“The driver indicated that he departed the bus once stopped and went for a cigarette behind the bus; he was unaware of any medical emergency and was not informed by any passenger that Mr. Azoadam had collapsed,†O’Reilly said in her report.
Some passengers were also not aware of the emergency until after the bus stopped, she noted.
Police were told Azoadam had been drinking throughout the day and was known to smoke pot, but was not seen smoking on the bus and finished his last drink prior to boarding the bus. He didn’t complain about feel unwell before he collapsed.
As for the bus company, O’Reilly noted that Favori reportedly strives to hire staff who are trained in CPR, but is not obliged to do so.
It also prohibits passengers under 19 years old from drinking and the only liquor found that night was inside passengers’ belongings.
The coroner’s investigation revealed that the company usually employs a chaperon for groups of 20 or more but there wasn’t one in this case.
Since Azoadam’s death, Favori has been conducting bag searches for all passengers and not letting them board if alcohol or drugs are found.
Azoadam’s death wasn't the first time a party bus passing through Surrey made headlines.
In July 2012 Surrey Mounties were called in to sort out the aftermath of a brawl involving recent high school graduates and a motorist who crossed their path behind a gas station in Cloverdale. In that case, a charter bus carrying about 50 young people during a grad celebration made a pit stop at a Husky Station at 176th Street and Highway 10.
During that stop, two people were stabbed, people were pepper sprayed and four young men were struck with a two-by-four.
tzytaruk@thenownewspaper.com