Kochi: At around 5.30 am on Thursday in Canada, Jithin Jacob Thomas, a native of Vaduthala in Kochi, quietly returned from the washroom and walked toward the bed where his wife, 35-year-old Namitha Sebastian, lay sleeping beside their five-year-old daughter Nathania.

Namitha had undergone shoulder surgery just hours earlier on the previous day and was still exhausted from the anaesthesia. Careful not to disturb her injured arm, Jithin gently stroked her head out of love and concern for her wellness.

“Usually, she would respond instantly to my touch even in deep sleep. This time, she didn’t. I tapped her cheek twice. There was no response,” Jithin recalled in a trembling voice while speaking to Onmanorama from Prince George in Canada’s British Columbia. “I felt something odd. Our daughter was sleeping beside her, hugging her under the blanket. I held Namitha’s hand. She was cold and stiff. I went into total shock,” he said.

Within minutes, the family’s world collapsed. Namitha Sebastian, a Malayali woman from Thevara in Kochi who had been living in Canada for over a decade, was declared dead just hours after being discharged from the University Hospital of Northern British Columbia following what her family describes as a “routine shoulder stabilisation surgery”.

Now, amid grief and unanswered questions about her death, the family is preparing for her funeral while waiting for an autopsy that they hope will reveal what really happened.

A surgery meant to prevent future pain
Namitha and Jithin had travelled nearly 600 kilometres from their hometown of Terrace in British Columbia to Prince George for the surgery.

“Her shoulder had dislocated a couple of times earlier. This surgery was supposed to prevent it from happening again in the future,” Jithin said.

The couple arrived in Prince George on Tuesday evening and stayed at the house of Jithin’s younger sister, Tania Thomas, who lives there. On Wednesday morning, they reached the hospital around 7 am. Namitha was taken into surgery at approximately 10.30 am.

Jithin said the hospital staff asked him to leave and told him they would call once the procedure was over.

“At around 2 pm, since I hadn’t heard anything, I called the hospital myself. They told me the surgery was over and she was in recovery and doing fine,” he said.

But less than two hours later, at around 3.45 pm, the hospital called back and asked him to come and take her home immediately. “They said she was being discharged and asked me to come within 15 minutes,” he said.

What Jithin saw at the hospital confused him initially. “She was sitting on the bed in her own clothes. The IV drip had been removed. But she was still in that half-conscious state from the anaesthesia,” he said.

“We never requested discharge, and I wondered if she was ready to leave the hospital after the surgery. But I did as I was asked and agreed to the discharge. The hospital staff told me to bring a wheelchair because she would have trouble walking,” Jithin said.

According to him, Namitha could barely hold herself upright. “I held her in the wheelchair. If I had let go, she would have fallen to the ground,” he said.

Even during the drive back home, she remained heavily sedated. “She was talking, but her speech was slurred. She was asking for different foods she wanted to eat. I kept joking with her and distracting her from the mood.”

Back at home, Jithin, his mother Jancy Thomas, and sister Tania helped carry Namitha to the bed.

Namitha had a glass of apple juice and went to bed, but she never woke up again.

‘She had been dead for hours’
Jithin ordered the food and when his mother went to invite her for dinner she was in deep sleep. Jithin said the family initially thought she was simply sleeping deeply because of the anaesthesia. So they decided not to disturb her.

Later that night, he laid a mattress on the floor beside her bed to make sure nobody accidentally touched her injured shoulder while sleeping. Their daughter Nathania slept next to her mother on the bed. Hours later came the horrifying discovery.

“When I found her cold and stiff around 5.30 am the next day, I started crying loudly. My mother and sister came running hearing my cries, thinking maybe a stitch had pulled or something had happened because of the surgery. I told them, ‘She isn’t waking up’ and they also cried aloud,” Jithin said.

A Malayali family living upstairs rushed down after hearing the cries. One of the neighbours immediately called 911 emergency services.

“My sister told me to do CPR, but I couldn’t move my hands or legs. I was completely shattered,” Jithin said.

One of their neighbours tried to revive her by giving CPR, but Namitha did not wake up.

Paramedics arrived within 15 minutes. “I had already stepped outside because I knew… she was cold and stiff,” he said softly.

The paramedics later informed the family that Namitha had likely died hours earlier.

The police later recorded statements from the family. They moved Namitha’s body to the nearby hospital’s mortuary. According to Jithin, one officer told them that, based on the circumstances, it appeared to be a natural death.

Questions over post-operative monitoring
What has deeply disturbed the family is Namitha’s medical history and the speed with which she was discharged. In 2023, Namitha had undergone a medical procedure in Vancouver to manage a seizure disorder.

“She had occasional seizures earlier, especially after our daughter’s birth. After the procedure, she became completely fine,” Jithin explained.

He said the hospital had complete access to her medical records and yet they decided to discharge her immediately after the surgery.

According to him, even Namitha’s brother, Jerry Sebasitan, a doctor based in the UK, questioned why she was not kept under observation overnight after receiving anaesthesia.

“He told us that with her medical history, they should have monitored her for at least a day. My mother-in-law, who is a retired doctor in Ernakulam, also said it could have been a silent cardiac event related to the anaesthesia,” Jithin said.

The family now plans to examine possible medical negligence once the autopsy report is released.

“The postmortem examination is scheduled for May 13. We suspect a lapse on the hospital’s side. But Malayali associations here told us we should wait for the autopsy first. After that, we will investigate whether proper protocols were followed,” Jithin said.

‘Amma is in heaven now’
Amid the grief, the image haunting the family most is that of five-year-old Nathania.

“She understands something has happened. On the first day after Namitha’s death, she told me, ‘Appa, I miss Amma. I am sad’,” Jithin said.

Now, he says, the child rarely speaks about it directly.

“She keeps looking at Amma’s photograph during prayers. Yesterday she asked me, ‘Should we pray for Amma?’ She says Amma is in Heaven.” Jithin said.

Namitha, who studied at Sacred Heart College, had built a life in Canada over the past 12 years. She worked as a customer service manager in Terrace city, while Jithin works as a supervisor in a private firm. Jithin and Namitha moved to Canada for higher studies. The couple, who had known each other in Ernakulam, became close after moving to Canada and later married.

They had settled there after marriage and were raising their daughter in the small British Columbia town they had come to call home.

Namitha’s sister Sonia Sebastian is flying in from Australia, while her brother Jerry Sebastian is trying to reach Canada from the UK.

Jithin’s father, NK Thomas, who lives in Vaduthala in Kochi, reached Canada on Saturday night after hearing the news.

Namitha’s autopsy is scheduled for May 13 in British Columbia. Her funeral is expected to be held in Terrace, where friends, colleagues and members of the Malayali community have gathered around the grieving family.