Scott Quiner, 55, died from COVID-19 on Saturday morning after battling the virus since October
An unvaccinated Minnesota father of three who contracted COVID and was moved to a Texas hospital during a legal battle over whether his ventilator should be turned off died Saturday.
Scott Quiner, 55, of Buffalo, was transferred to a Houston hospital last week after doctors in Minnesota refused his wife’s request to keep the severely ill man on a ventilator.
The wife, Anne Qunier, had won a restraining order to keep him on life support on January 13 and moved her husband to Texas.
He had been showing some signs of improvement before suddenly succumbing to the virus.
‘We’re absolutely devastated,’ said family lawyer Marjorie Holsten. ‘We ask for privacy for Anne and the children as they grieve the loss of Scott, a wonderful husband and father.’
The lawyer said she did not know when he lost consciousness, but he was aware while on a FaceTime call with his daughter two days ago.
Quiner (pictured on January 8) had lost 30 pounds while on a ventilator in Minnesota
Mercy Hospital in Minnesota wanted to switch his ventilator off but he was moved to a Texas facility in order to keep him alive after his wife won an injunction
Quiner, 55, who was unvaccinated, with his wife and three kids
Quiner was a patient at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, where he was set to have his ventilator shut off on January 13, despite his wife’s insistence that he should remain hooked up to the device.
He had been in the hospital since October 31, but doctors had decided to end his treatment after he suffered lung failure. He required deep sedation, a breathing tube, and a ventilator after his oxygen levels got dangerously low.
But Anne sought an injunction against the hospital to prevent them from switching off his ventilator, and a judge ruled in her favor.
Last weekend, he was flown to Mercy Hospital in Houston, the family’s attorney said, where treatment continued. The family had said they didn’t think Quiner had lost 30 pounds while on a ventilator.
Quiner’s wife, Anne, (left) went to court in Anoka County a day before his machine was due to be switched off, seeking an emergency restraining order to prevent Mercy from disconnecting Scott’s ventilator
Quiner, shown with his family, was an operations manager in Delano, Minnesota
Quiner, enjoying time on a boat with his family, had three kids and was married for 35 years
Quiner, who was an operations manager at GW Transportation Services in Delano, Minnesota, had been married to Anne for 35 years, Holsten said
They had two adult children and a teenager.
His case drew widespread attention this month after Mercy Hospital said it would disconnect the ventilator on January 13.
Quiner had been at the hospital’s intensive care unit since November 6 with critically low oxygen levels and had shown little signs of improvement since his arrival, the Star Tribune reported.
A picture of his chart that was included in his wife’s court filing noted on January 12 that his ‘care plan’ called for ventilator support to come to an end on January 13.
‘Family would be able to be present at the bedside,’ the chart reads.
Anne went to court in Anoka County court a day before his machine was due to be switched off, seeking an emergency restraining order to prevent Mercy from disconnecting the ventilator.
Quiner said the decision by the hospital would ‘end my husband’s life’ and appealed for a restraining order against the hospital.
‘If you’re telling me he’s dying, then why can’t you try these things, at least try? What can it hurt?’ Anne told CBS Minnesota.
Without a judge’s decision, ‘my husband will die,’ Anne wrote in her petition to the court.
‘I have advised the doctors that I vehemently disagree with this action and do not want my husband’s ventilator turned off,’ court papers said.
Anoka County Judge Jennifer Stanfield ruled in favor of Anne Quiner’s request and had set a hearing to be held online February 11.
‘I don’t think the judge wanted to be on the wrong side of saying, “Well, of course, you should be able to pull the plug,”‘ Holsten said.
A GoFundMe page set up on the Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo has raised nearly $150,00.
‘Any donation would help take the financial stress off the family. Thank you for your continued outpouring of love, prayers and support during this difficult time,’ the family said the site.
The family’s lawyer said she doesn’t know when Quiner lost consciousness, but said he was aware while on FaceTime with his daughter two days before his death
