Another Calgary couple has stepped forward to question the actions of local medical staff after their nine-year-old daughter died this spring following a routine appendix operation.

Suki Chanthyvong and his wife, Cindy, say doctors and nurses should have operated on their daughter Savannah as soon as she arrived at the Alberta Children's Hospital, not after a four-hour-plus wait that included filling out forms.

The girl died May 15 of septic shock less than 24 hours after having her appendix removed.

"My daughter shouldn't have died like this," said Suki, who first contacted Global TV on Wednesday with his family's story.

The death is reminiscent of two other high-profile cases in Calgary in which young people died hours after appendix operations.

Maren Burkhart, 10, also succumbed to septic shock, on Dec. 4, 1997, and Vince Motta, 23, died of an asthma attack on Jan. 2, 2001.

The Calgary Health Region, however, released a short statement Wednesday, saying the deaths of Savannah Chanthyvong and the others are not connected in any way.

"These are entirely unrelated cases, except for a common diagnosis," the CHR said. "From our perspective, the quality of care she (Savannah) received is not an issue."

Chanthyvong told the Herald Wednesday afternoon that the Calgary Health Region should have learned more from the previous tragedies.

"They know things have been happening before. They should have fixed it before," he said.

In both previous cases, fatality inquiries were held and the CHR wound up accepting virtually all the recommendations of the judges who conducted the inquiries.

Septic shock is a condition in which an infection spews bacteria into the bloodstream, creating toxins that cause the victim's blood pressure to drop drastically.

It can also cause fever, racing heartbeat, rapid breathing, confusion and a coma.

It is diagnosed by a blood test and is treated with large doses of antibiotics.

Burkhart and Motta's deaths drew considerable media attention because, before they died, they both left crowded emergency rooms without being seen. Maren and her mother waited for two hours at Alberta Children's Hospital, while Motta left the Foothills and Rockyview hospitals, also after a multi-hour wait.

Savannah Chanthyvong, however, was on an operating room table between four and five hours after showing up at the children's hospital, said her father, who still called the delay unacceptable.

"They should have taken my daughter in right away," he said.

Her parents had rushed her to the hospital after she was diagnosed with appendicitis at a walk-in clinic near their Coral Springs home.

Savannah had gone to school on May 14, but soon complained of mild stomach pains, said her father, who then picked her up at around 10:30 a.m. and waited until the end of the workday before taking her to the walk-in clinic.

After the operation, Savannah at first appeared to be recovering normally. But about nine hours after surgery, she was taken to the intensive-care unit, where her condition deteriorated rapidly due to septic shock, her father said.

About 10 hours after that, she was dead.

Chanthyvong is wondering why doctors didn't know she was suffering from septic shock until too late.

"After the surgery, she's OK. But after that, it turned into a nightmare," he said.

Savannah's family has hired a lawyer to consider its legal options.

"I don't want it to happen to (other) children again," her father said.

Relatives of Burkhart and Motta both sued the Calgary Health Region and its employees for alleged negligence. Burkhart's mother recently settled out of court, but the Mottas have just begun serving defendants with papers.

dheyman@theherald.canwest.com