The pain of not knowing what happened to her husband after she dropped him off at a Detroit Hospital, torments Denise Chandler.

Denise Chandler speaks to Jeff Eichenlaub, one of.

the nurses that tended to her late husband at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit in March.

The anguish of not knowing what happened to her husband after she dropped him off at Detroit's Sinai-Grace Hospital on the night of March 28 brings fresh tears to Denise Chandler’s eyes three months after he died.

When a doctor called to tell Chandler that her 35-year-old husband, Richard, died less than 24 hours after she helped him into a wheelchair at the door of the emergency room, she couldn’t fathom how it all happened so fast?

Denise Chandler, 37, of Detroit lost her husband, Richard Chandler when he died March 29 at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit.

She read the Free Press story in early June about what happened at Sinai-Grace at the height of the pandemic surge in southeastern Michigan and realized that her husband hadn't gotten the life-saving help he needed.

Denise Chandler holds a photo of her and her husband with the words "We Miss U" at the bottom on June 24, 2020. (Photo: Mandi Wright, Detroit Free Press).

She'd planned to drive him to an emergency room in the suburbs that night, but Richard passed out in the front seat of their car, and Denise quickly altered her route, instead bringing him to Sinai-Grace, which was just 2 miles from their house. .

But then Denise read a June 11 Detroit Free Press report about a whistleblower lawsuit four former Sinai-Grace nurses brought against Tenet Healthcare, the for-profit parent company of the Detroit Medical Center, which runs Sinai-Grace.

what happened to my husband," she said.

Denise Chandler, 37, of Detroit lost her husband, Richard Chandler when he died March 29 at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit.

She read the Free Press story in early June about what happened at Sinai-Grace at the height of the pandemic surge in southeastern Michigan and realized that her husband hadn't gotten the life-saving help he needed.

Chandler speaks to Jeff Eichenlaub, the nurse who cared for Richard before he died on a Zoom Call. (Photo: Mandi Wright, Detroit Free Press).

Richard and Denise Chandler of Detroit were married 13 years.

Richard died in March at Sinai-Grace Hospital. (Photo: Chandler family photo).

Denise Chandler, 37, of Detroit lost her husband, Richard Chandler when he died March 29 at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit.

Mackenzie Chandler, 8, left, Kelsey Chandler, 9, Sebastian Ontiveroz, 2, Denise Chandler, 37, (holding) Zoe Ontiveroz, 1, Kodie Chandler, 12, Kaleb Chandler, 10. (Photo: Mandi Wright, Detroit Free Press).

At home, Denise said he always had something on the barbecue, eager to cook for his family, friends or anyone who happened to drop by. .

Even from the hospital, hours before he died, Richard sent text messages saying he wanted her to get some rest and apologizing for worrying her.

In loving memory of Richard Chandler.".

Coronavirus swept through the Chandler family in mid-March, Denise said.

It began with their son Kodie, who said he started feeling weak on March 11 — the day after Gov.

Just a few weeks before Kodie Chandler’s father, Richard Chandler died of complications of COVID-19, he led the Detroit Youth Choir in a performance at Christ Church Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills.

The group took second-place, and that experience, Denise said, "changed him for the better.

Kodie Chandler bumped into "America's Got Talent" producer and judge Simon Cowell in an elevator when he was in California competing on the show with the Detroit Youth Choir in 2019.

His parents, Denise and Richard Chandler, snapped a photo. (Photo: Chandler family photo).

"It was terrible," Denise said.

Denise's hands rose to touch her necklace while she talked to Eichenlaub, the nurse who treated her husband at Sinai-Grace on the day he died.

Eichenlaub, who was working as a day-shift nurse in the emergency department at the hospital March 28-29, gave this account:.

Jeffrey Eichenlaub, 41, of Troy was a nurse at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit until he was fired May 6, 2020.

He sued the hospital Wednesday, June 10, 2020 in Wayne County Circuit Court, alleging his job was wrongfully terminated because he blew the whistle on problems at the hospital. (Photo: Jeffrey Eichenlaub).

Richard was then brought to a different part of the hospital for a CT-scan of his chest, he said.

Denise pointed out that the level of troponin, a blood protein that can be measured to gauge whether a person has had a heart attack or may be in cardiac distress, was extremely elevated when his blood was drawn on the night of March 28.

She obtained 26 pages of medical records from Sinai-Grace and shared them with the Free Press. .

March 29, Richard texted Denise to tell her that the staff was preparing to discharge him, even though he'd had two episodes when he lost consciousness the night before.

Although they resuscitated Richard once, Eichenlaub said shortly after his CT-scan, Richard went into cardiac arrest again.

And the second time his heart stopped, Eichenlaub said the doctor in charge refused to allow the the staff to perform CPR.

It causes a lot of problems with your clotting cascade," Eichenlaub said.

Jeffrey Eichenlaub, 41, of Troy was a nurse at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit until he was fired May 6, 2020

He sued the hospital Wednesday, June 10, 2020 in Wayne County Circuit Court, alleging his job was wrongfully terminated because he blew the whistle on problems at the hospital. (Photo: Jeffrey Eichenlaub)

But Eichenlaub said there were measures they could have taken to protect themselves and save Richard's life

"We just risked it," Eichenlaub said

DMC Sinai Grace Hospital in Detroit, Wednesday, April 15, 2020. (Photo: Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)

"It was just a presumption that he was positive," Eichenlaub said

This is why we train," Eichenlaub said

Denise Chandler, 37, of Detroit lost her husband, Richard Chandler when he died March 29 at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit

Denise Chandler holds personalized photos of her late husband with three of her eight children over the memorial garden that includes her husband's work boots. (Photo: Mandi Wright, Detroit Free Press)

The death certificate says Richard Chandler died at 6:06 p.m., and that his death was attributed to "cardiopulmonary arrest secondary to pneumonia and COVID-19."

"When when my husband passed, I said, 'At least my kids still have my dad, a male figure for them.' And then, like, five days later, after my husband passed, I got the call that they were rushing my dad to the hospital and I'm like, 'No

While he could not comment on pending litigation or the allegations Eichenlaub and the other nurses made about hospital conditions during the height of the coronavirus surge, Brian Taylor, a spokesman for Sinai-Grace and the Detroit Medical Center, said there is no hospital-wide do-not-resuscitate policy.  

She's considering litigation, but said she knows nothing that happens in a courtroom will bring her husband back to her. 

Denise Chandler, 37, of Detroit lost her husband, Richard Chandler when he died March 29 at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit

She read the Free Press story in early June about what happened at Sinai-Grace at the height of the pandemic surge in southeastern Michigan and realized that her husband hadn't gotten the life-saving help he needed