Health officials in Winnipeg have apologized to a family who didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to their loved one before he died after being injured in a fall.

Edward Henrickson, 77, was bike riding on his way home from the corner store along Airlies Street, near Cathedral Avenue, when he hit a pothole, and fell face first onto the ground.

Hendrickson was initially taken to Seven Oaks General Hospital.

Hours later, his family called the hospital, worried because they hadn’t heard from him, and thought something might be wrong.

"They told us he had multiple face fractures and a brain bleed and that they were transporting him to Health Science Centre with an incubation tube, says Michael Henrickson, Edward Henrickson’s son.

Twenty minutes after arriving at Health Science Centre, Edward Henrickson died.

His family never had the chance to say goodbye.

His son Michael said they feel robbed and cheated.

"There was a three hour 45 window where my dad was literally on his death bed. We could have had those conversations and those words with him,” said Michael.

Michael said he met with representatives from Seven Oaks Thursday to get a timeline of what happened while his father was in their care.

The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority also released a statement.

“We are very sorry for this family’s loss, and are sorry this family was not given the opportunity to say goodbye to their loved one. Both Dr. Lobato de Faria from Seven Oaks General Hospital and Lori Lamont from the WRHA have been in contact with this patient’s family this week, and are continuing to work with them to ensure their questions are answered,” said the WRHA. “We have acknowledged that contacting family should have been standard practice, have apologized directly to the family for not having done so in this case, and staff at the site have been reminded of the importance of doing so.”

Henrickson said he wants to see policy changed, so that other families don't have to face the same fate in the future.

Since news of Henrickson's death spread, the potholes near Airlies and Cathedral have since been filled. It’s something Henrickson’s son calls reactive and not proactive.

"There are a lot of potholes in this city and some of them are causing troubles to vehicles and to people and you know the city should try to attend as much as possible to the infrastructure,” he said.

The city wouldn't comment on the incident specifically, but city representatives did offer a written reply to CTV News.

“We do not quantify the number potholes we repair in our operations. We continue our efforts to provide pothole repairs on road surfaces. This service is based on routine inspections and target areas of concerns throughout the City road network with an emphasis on working through the high volume speed roadways as our first priority,” said the city.

“Priority for pothole repair is based on street priority level (P1, P2 etc.) and considerations such as pothole location on the roadway and severity. Approximately $1.5 million is budgeted for pothole repair on an annual basis,” said the city.

Relatives of Edward Henrickson said they haven't decided if they will pursue legal action against the city or the hospital.