'She was not a surgical candidate': doctor tells gas-and-dash murder trial that victim could not be saved
The Canadian Press | Posted: April 28, 2017 1:18 AM | Last Updated: April 28, 2017
Maryam Rashidi was trying to stop a driver from leaving a gas station without paying in June 2015
A neurologist says there was nothing doctors could do to save a Calgary gas station employee run over by a vehicle whose driver fled without paying.
Maryam Rashidi was trying to stop a driver from leaving the Centex gas station without paying in June 2015.
She chased the vehicle into traffic and climbed up on the hood of the truck in an attempt to get the driver to come back and pay for his fuel but fell off and was run over.
Joshua Cody Mitchell, 22, is on trial for a number of charges including second-degree murder.
Dr. Phillippe Couillard, an expert in critical care neurology at Foothills Medical Centre, says Rashidi was in a coma when she arrived and had fractures to the base of her skull and vertebrae.
"She was not a surgical candidate because the brain is broken heavily on both sides and removing the bone will not help."
He says Rashidi sustained damage to three of the four major blood vessels to her brain which caused two strokes and eventually led to her death.
Earlier this week, jurors heard from eight people who jumped into action after the fatal hit-and-run with a stolen truck.
Some ran to the nearby fire hall for help, some administered first aid to the victim and two tried to catch the driver who had taken off. An off-duty nurse, firefighter and doctor were by Rashidi's side trying to save her life.