Nurse Joanna Flynn repeatedly asked Deanna Leblanc's family if they would like to turn off her life support, according to testimony from Leblanc's mother-in-law.
Sharon Leblanc recounted two conversations where Flynn said, "Deanna is not there anymore. She’s gone. You have to let her go."
She testified that one of those conversations happened with Leblanc’s husband, Mike Leblanc. The other happened in a quiet room outside the intensive care unit, where family and friends were waiting.
"It was like she was on a mission determined to let this happen." she said.
Sharon Leblanc testified that Flynn eventually convinced Mike to let her turn off the life support. She said she couldn't give her son advice on what to do when he asked.
"I didn't know that a nurse could pull the plug or that she couldn't."
Leblanc was rushed to Georgian Bay General Hospital in the morning of March 2, 2014 with a medical complication two days after having knee surgery in Newmarket.
The Crown alleges Flynn over stepped her role as a nurse by turning off Leblanc's life support without a doctor's order and coerced Leblanc’s husband for consent.
She has been charged with manslaughter and criminal negligence causing death.
The defence suggested that other physicians and nurses told Sharon and Mike that there was no chance of recovery and that tests proved no brain activity.
The defence also suggested Sharon chose not to listen to the "upsetting information."
However, throughout her testimony Sharon indicated that she didn't know Leblanc was on life support and believed doctors would save her.
"Nobody said she was brain dead" and that a physician in the ICU told her "There was hope. Time will tell. Nobody said she was going to die."
Sharon Leblanc also told the court had she been in the right state of mind, she would have asked to speak with a doctor before a decision was made to shut off Leblanc's life support.
The trial continues Wednesday with testimony from an ER nurse and Leblanc's mother.
