By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-09-22 00:20:56 | Updated at 2024-09-30 05:20:38
1 week ago
A grieving grandfather has told of his anguish at explaining to his two grandsons sons that their mother died during a boob job gone wrong.
David Gorey told a San Diego sentencing hearing that the nature of his late daughter Megan Espinoza's January 2019 death had to be sanitized for the boys, who were three and six at the time.
Speaking as surgeon Carlos Chacon was jailed for three years Friday, Gorey said: 'I am sure this court can appreciate how painful and heart-wrenching it is to tell this version of events to two young boys who do not understand why their lives are turned upside down without their mother.'
Megan was a 36 year-old kindergarten teacher when she checked in for the breast augmentation surgery at Divino Plastic Surgery six days before Christmas 2018.
She went into cardiac arrest during the operation, with Chacon and his nurse Heather Lang Vass, 44, failing to dial 911 for three hours after.
Megan was rushed to hospital in a coma and died a month later. Chacon instructed Vass and other colleagues to give Megan anesthesia, even though they were unqualified to do so.
He avoided calling 911 after Megan had a heart attack over fears the sight of an ambulance would scare his other patients off.
Chacon and Vass both pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, with Vass receiving two years in prison. The pair have also given up their medical licenses.
Megan's widower Moises Espinoza also spoke at Friday's sentencing, saying: 'It is hard to live without Megan in my life. I try for the sake of my kids… but I was robbed,’ Moises said as he held back tears.
Megan’s widower shared how his boys ‘will never understand the love a mother has.’
Moises Espinoza, lost his wife and mother of his children, Megan Espinoza, 36, after her medical team wrongfully, and without a license to do so, administered a lethal dose of anesthesia
Along with his late-wife’s parents, Moises appeared in court on Friday delivering heart-wrenching statements detailing how hard it has been to explain to his young sons - who were three and six at the time of her death - why their mother isn’t coming home
South Bay surgeon, Carlos Chacon, 49, and nurse, Heather Lang Vass, 44, pleaded guilty to their roles in the December 19, 2018, operation that led to the death of the mother of two and kindergarten teacher
Superior Court Judge Maryann D'Addezio said at the sentencing hearing that Chacon's decision not to call 911 was 'unexplainable' and 'unjustifiable'
‘I am sure this court can appreciate how painful and heart-wrenching it is to tell this version of events to two young boys who do not understand why their lives are turned upside down without their mother,’ Megan's father, David Gorcey said on Friday
Superior Court Judge Maryann D'Addezio said at the sentencing hearing that Chacon's decision not to call 911 was 'unexplainable' and 'unjustifiable.'
‘You thought about you and only you,’ D'Addezio said.
The hearing also touched on an incident that occurred nearly six months prior to the fateful procedure, in which Vass overmedicated a patient who could not be awakened from her sedation.
That woman was handed off to family members and Chacon instructed them to have her ‘sleep it off,’ said the judge, who characterized the incident as a demonstration of ‘your lack of care for your patients.’
Chacon and Vass both issued groveling apologies during their sentencing.
'I am deeply, deeply sorry for the immense pain and suffering that my failure to fulfill my duty has caused to those who know, knew, and loved her.' Chacon told the court.
'I can't undo what happened and it haunts me daily. She trusted me with her care and I failed her.'
Vass said being a mother made her even more distraught at Megan's passing, said she was 'deeply and truly sorry' and that Megan's death would 'haunt me for the rest of my days.'
