More than a year after the death of Mélanie Jutras, who lost her life in unclear circumstances following bariatric surgery in Tunisia, her family still lives in incomprehension of what caused the mother’s death family of 41 years.
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“We want to have answers to our questions,” declared his brother Jean-François Jutras, in an interview with TVA.
The family got a description of the operation, but no information as to what went wrong.
“Everything that is the medical file, we are still refused today, despite the fact that it is written in black and white on the website that the bereaved family will be able to have, legally, all the necessary papers. Even today, it is impossible for us to obtain them,” laments Mr. Jutras.
Those close to Mélanie Jutras doubt the postoperative course and do not believe that the 41-year-old woman had all the necessary treatments.
They deplore the lack of transparency of the Tunisian clinic where the operation took place.
“We received two reports in which she died [dans l’un] at 8 a.m. and [dans] the other at 9 a.m.,” proclaims Mr. Jutras.
“Even today, we do not understand the ways of doing things of this company. How could it have happened that a few hours before, everything was fine and then she had died?” he adds.
Why Tunisia?
The victim’s brother says that Mélanie Jutras had been trying to lose weight for a while.
She did not want to wait to be operated on in the Quebec public network, where the delays for bariatric surgery are two to three years.
“She also turned to private clinics here. It was much too expensive,” says Mr. Jutras.
Her sister therefore started searching the internet and finally came across the website of Medcare Vacances, the company specializing in medical tourism with which she finally did business.
“These are tempting videos that we are offered. We are told that there will be no problems, that everything will be fine. My sister jumped in with both feet,” explains Jean-François Jutras.
Mélanie Jutras signed a contract in December 2022, after having previously researched the company.
Jean-François Jutras describes his sister as a devoted mother and a successful entrepreneur.
“Mélanie is a woman who would have given her shirt for people. She wore her heart on her sleeve and always came last,” says the victim’s brother.
“She was also a singer. She could have done Star Academy. She had such a beautiful voice,” he adds.
To see the full interview, watch the video above.