Mr. Golubchuk died. He wasn't killed. The death team failed and their bloodthirst goes unslaked.
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In the end, it wasn't a judge who decided Sam Golubchuk's fate -- time ran out for the 84-year-old and his family who challenged the province's medical community over who gets to determine when someone dies.
Golubchuk died at about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday in his bed at Grace General Hospital, still connected to a life support system.
"He simply died," family lawyer Neil Kravetsky said late Tuesday night.
The legal action launched by Golubchuk's children to prevent doctors from removing their father from life support system had fixated the community and drawn interest across the country.
Golubchuk's children had won a temporary injunction to prevent doctors from removing him from life support and the issue was to be decided in court in September.
Kravetsky said that while Golubchuk's right wasn't sealed by a court ruling, he believed the Second World War veteran won his case just the same.
"No one took him off life support -- God did and that's what they were fighting for," Kravetsky said.
There was no official announcement to mark Golubchuk's death. The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority refused to confirm he had died because his family had instructed it not to release any statement on his condition. His children could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.
However, an e-mail was circulated among members of the Shaarey Zedek synagogue, stating that funeral services would be held at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, at Chesed Shel Emes, 1023 Main Street.
Kravetsky said hospital officials called the Golubchuk family late Tuesday morning and asked them to come to the Grace, but he died before they arrived.
Golubchuk was in a minimal conscious state, on dialysis and life support to keep him alive. Doctors wanted to remove him from life support last fall but his children -- son Percy Golubchuk and daughter Miriam Giller -- objected, arguing he was aware of what was going on but simply unable to express himself.
Three doctors resigned, refusing to care for Golubchuk, on the grounds they were unnecessarily inflicting pain on an individual so close to death.
"Mr. Golubchuk won," Kravetsky said. "He didn't die because they pulled him off life support. He died when his time had come."
Golubchuk dies, still on life support
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