E E

E

E1,

Commission d'enquft• sur,.. ,.,.fions entrw les Autochtone. •t�•rt•lns HnMft publics

n, "b IDID '<.ue ecee

1 do solemnly declare that,

Statutorv Declaration

1 do solemnly declare, �g on the phone with Geneviève Collard, Investigation agent from theViens Commission, on - 2018.

(Reads consent form)

Q1: Do you want it identifiable, so that your name is associated with your story, or anonymous?

A 1 : Maybe anonymous.

02: Do you have a specific reason or no reasons?

A2: No, there is not really a reason.

Q3: So you don't feel comfortable enough to share it to be identified?

A3: My story can be shared, 1 don't think 1 would be able to speak in front of many people with my story, 1 am not ready yet.

Q4: 1 understand, and that's why also we ask the witnesses that share their story, sometimes there are other ways, like being anonymous or off the record, so if you are invited to corne to the public hearing, a lot of people that came to the commission were off record, so there is no way to see the person; the name can be known but they are not shown, for example. There are a lot of ways for the commissioner to reach your expectations. (Continues reading consent form.) If you are invited tomake a public testimony, do you need someone to corne with you as a translator?

A4: Not an interpreter but maybe someone to support me or be there for me.

Declarer signature ________________________ ___ _

Declared before me, ----------------------------�

at on ·�----------------�

Commission d'enquête sur,les relations ef!tre les Autochtones et,certains servlce�P._ublics

·1·

P-1294

E

E

Commission d'ffftqulfe sur l@s t'elatlons entrelesAufodrtones et certains serv/CH publks

l""\1 --b IP8I ml

'<-ue ec ID a

Q5: Can you give me the year of the event, and where it was?

AS: lt started in 2015, to 2016, but it's in different places. That's the thing 1 mentioned when 1 spoke to - 1 don't know the exact dates but 1 remember the months. ln the summer time, probably towards fall in 2015, was my first experience with having such a sharp pain on my stomach. 1 had just arrived in Val-d'Or, and 1 couldn't handle the pain. 1 didn't know what was wrong. 1 kept going to the bathroom thinking that 1 wanted to urinate or stools, and the pain was so unbearable that 1 hadn't felt that pain before. 1 took myself to the emergency room with my brother, because 1 had just arrived and right after

1 went to the emergency room. 1 didn't get a chance to see a doctor, but 1 saw a nurse. The first thing she said was that 1 was having stool problems, and they only gave me Metamucil. 1 was sent home without further tests. The pain was still there for a few hours, but 1 didn't really think anything of it because 1 believed the nurse right away, thinking that they know. There was nothing else that was done, or that 1 would be invited on the following day for a follow-up.

1 left. After, 1 was on the road to Gatineau, a few hours later, and the pain would be here and there, it would corne and go. The same year, in the fall 2015, 1 remember 1 was in school at the University of Ottawa. My family was with me when 1 fainted in my apartment late at night. 1 only remember walking towards the dining room area in my apartment, and then ail of a sudden 1 saw the medics' vehicle; luckily, my family had called an ambulance. A few hours prior, 1 couldn't sleep, 1 had pain, the same

pain on the same side. lt was almost always on my right side, and it was always below my stomach. While 1 was in the ambulance, the medic held me down on both of my shoulders, and 1 told her 1

needed to go on my side because 1 felt like vomiting. She Just didn't allow me, and 1 started vomiting while 1 was laying down face up, and 1 made a big mess in the ambulance and on myself too, on my shirt and so forth. 1 remember filling up two bags, because of vomiting, and the pain, 1 couldn't bear it. That pain 1 felt while 1 was in Val-d'Or, it was more pain this time. So.we arrived at the hospital

in Hull, they took me in the back and told me to wait in the hallway. one of the nurses, put a

needle on my arm for a possible flu.

My brother was with me, the same brother that was with me in Val-d'Or, he was the one that came in the ambulance. He was asked many questions, like if 1 had been out of the country lately, or if 1 had a

family member that left the country, where there was a possibility that 1 could be catching Ebola; that was the year when it was big. My brother was able to answer all the questions for me, because 1 was in so much pain. After the question, the nurses sent me to the waiting room, but 1 kept telling them that 1 was in a lot of pain, and that 1 ca not properly sit down. 1 felt like 1 didn't know how to sit down, because

of the pain 1 didn't know the proper way. 1 asked for a bed because 1 noticed a lot of doors were open and no one was in there, 1 said 1 just needed anything to lay down until the pain could go. There was a certain way where 1 could lie down, either 1 had to have my leg up on one side, or just lay down

straight, and 1 knew the pain would be gone somehow.

The nurses spoke in French the whole time, and 1 don't speak French, and neither does my brother.

They would look at us and laugh. 1 know 1 made faces because of the pain, and 1 told my brother that

they might laugh at me because of my facial expression, but 1 couldn't help it, because of the pain.

X

Enquêteur

X

Déclarant

Commission d'enquête sur les relations entre les Autochtones et certains services publics

Commission d'&nquête sur les nllttlons entn les Autodttones et certains Hrvlœs publics ("'\, � b 18111811

'<.ue ecue

When 1 spoke to the nurses they told me that none of them spoke English and that 1 had to wait in the waiting room. 1 walked over to the waiting room and 1 couldn't sit still, 1 didn't know how to sit properly. 1 had to lie down on the chairs, but the pain was still unbearable. 1 felt like they didn't care or didn't believe me. 1 went to see the nurses again, and requested for a bed or a place where 1 could lie down, but 1 was told there was no bed available. 1 told them there were some doors that were open that you could see, where you get called in to see a doctor, and that no one was there, and one of the nurses just walked and started closing the doors. 1 sent my brother because at this time 1 was completely exhausted, 1 sent my brother to look for a bench or a place for me to lay down, because at this point 1

was so exhausted, and putting the chairs together didn't help. He found a small bench in one of the hallways, and 1 was able to walk over and lie down, but it was so uncomfortable because 1 am tall, and the bench was short and small.

After a while, the pain was not that bad, it was released somehow when 1 lay straight, my legs were hanging but 1 didn't have this pain or this pressure below my stomach anymore. 1 was finally called in

the intercom, 1 know my name even when they say it in French with a French accent, but my brother and 1 couldn't understand the number where 1 was supposed to go to, 1 remember they said my name, and something in French. 1 sent my brother to the front desk, but the worker didn't want to tell him about the room number in English, she told him she didn't know and that he should have Jistened properly. He said: "I kept telling her that we don't speak French, but we heard her name and her last name," so he came back to me, but he was so mad that he never got the room number. 1 felt so

vulnerable, especially not speaking French. 1 went over to the front desk myself and said: "I just sent

my brother here to ask for which room number, 1 am in pain," and she said she didn't know, tumed and walked to another area, the lady of the front desk, so 1 never got a number. 1 ended up walking out of

the hospital without seeing a doctor, just because we couldn't understand and 1 didn't know what else to do, and 1 did not want to really push for it to think 1 would be okay after a few hours. My parents came to pick my brother and me at the hospital and 1 went home. The pain was still there but not so much. 1 remember sleeping on the couch.

After that, the pain would be here and there but 1 would never go to the hospital. lt continued on again when 1 arrived at Val"d'Or, it seemed it would corne back each time 1 travelled that very night or the very next day, the pain would be so unbearable. Again, 1 went to Val"d'Or hospital and 1 was not given anything, only Tylenol and Metamucil for stools. They said it was really nothing and that it would go

away, but 1 wasn't given any tests or ultrasound, or anything like that.

ln 2016, late in the fall, 1 moved to Chisasibi, that's when 1 came home from my studies. The pain would be here and there, but in January 2016, that's when 1 really felt the pain would be coming back constantly. For the first few trips 1 would make to the hospital, they kept prescribing me Metamucil

and saying it was my stools. There were times where they didn't take my blood test, or they did not say to send me somewhere for further testing. 1 knew it wasn't what they said 1 had because the pain would be there.

X

Enquêteur

X

Déclarant

Commi5sion d'enquête sur les relations entre les Autochtones et certains services publics

comm1ss1on <rMqu•t• sur les ni.rions •ntre les Autochtones •t certains nrvlœs publics

t""'\1 "' b ml 181

'<-ue ec m1 m1

At first, it would be once or twice a month, and then in February it would be twice every two weeks. ln between the end February and March, it would corne back either twice or three times a week. 1 remember, March and April, that's when 1 started getting pain almost every day. 1 would keep going back to the hospital, but they wouldn't, do anything, they kept telling me: "If you take Metamucil, it will

go away." 1 told them 1 didn't think it was that, because 1 was in a lot of pain, and it was almost every day.

At home, 1 would just go to work for a while and 1 would have to leave to go home to lay down. 1 couldn't

even lie down in my bed, 1 would have to lay on the couch and have my legs up. 1 would be sweating, 1 would wet my t-shirt, and my hair would be ail wet, and my face, 1 would be sweating. lt would

sometimes last half an hour or more, and the only thing 1 could take was Metamucil because the hospital couldn't give me anything else. ln the beginning of April 1 remember only taking Advil, but the

two tablets, instead of every four to six hours, 1 was taking them every two hours, because when 1

would take them, 1 always remember looking at the clock; for almost a hait hour, it would help ease the pain.

Then, 1 started going to the hospital almost every day, that last week, before they finally did something.

At this point no one knew what was wrong with me, except thinking that 1 had problems with my stools. l live with my grandmother, because my parents have their own house now. The last time 1 remember my grandmother calling the first responders, because 1 could not walk, 1 could not sit down. 1 would

lie down on the floor, 1 was crying. 1 had started crying in March, that's when the pain was so unbearable, l didn't know what else to do but cry, and the pain 1 could not handle. 1 didn't know what else to take. 1 had my knees on the floor sometimes, and 1 would just lean over on the couch, because 1 didn't know how else that 1 could have that pain go away.

The last time, when 1 went to the hospital, it was the first responders that drove me to the hospital. At this point 1 had a hard time walking. 1 felt so heavy, 1 felt 1 was carrying something that was so heavy that 1 could not walk. 1 also started vomiting so many times, when that pain would corne. That's when there were two doctors that said that the ultrasound machine they have in Chisasibi is not really good, so it doesn't really show a lot. When the doctor did the ultrasound, she said she saw something very small. They did my blood test and they said it showed there was an infection starting somewhere, but

they just didn't know where. The doctors both said it wasn't as bad as needing a Medevac, but that they would book me in Val-d'Or for further tests. When 1 was in the hospital, they gave me pain killers so that helped in a certain way.

1 went home and the pain was not here until 1 got to Val-d'Or, 1 remember it was on a Sunday in April,

1 believe it was at the end of April 2016. 1 flew out on a Sunday, and when 1 went to Val-d'Or, 1 was

okay, 1 didn't have any pain. 1 flew to Val-d'Or and 1 went to my ultrasound appointment. 1 remember going in and saying that persan that would do the ultrasound not to push hard because 1 would be in a lot of pain, but, of course, they had no choice if they wanted to see clearly.

X

Enquêteur

X

Déclarant

Commission d'enquête sur les relations entre les Autochtônes·et certains services publics

Commission d'fHKICJlf.• sur les relllflons •ntre IH Autochtones •t certains servlœs publics

r'\1 ,. b Hl H

'<-ue ec ee

That's when after they were done, 1 stood up and the pain came back, 1 sensed it hit ten times more than what 1 had felt before. 1 started vomiting blood in the toilet before 1 could get dressed and change

into my clothes again. 1 showed it to the lady because she asked if 1 was ready, and she said it was

normal. 1 remember she said it was normal to vomit blood like that, because 1 still had my IV and 1 remember looking at the IV and crying, and thinking that 1 should pull out my IV so 1 could feel a different pain than what 1 was feeling.

Finally, it took me so long to dress myself up, 1 remember really crying. 1 cafled my grandmother and told her what had happened. The persan that did the ultrasound told me to go back to Patients Services to tell them that 1 was ready to go home the following day. For them to say it was normal to vomit blood, 1 thought it was normal, 1 thought it was what they see every day. 1 went to the Patients Services, 1 remember hiding my face in the hallway because 1 had been crying and 1 didn't want people to look at

me. 1 went back to Patients Services and the driver took me back to the Friendship Centre. 1 called my grandmother again crying because 1 didn't know what to do and 1 felt so lonely; the persan that 1 knew that was in Val-d'Or had surgery so she was not there. 1 felt so alone; 1 didn't know what to do but just

cry. 1 took Advil again, and 1 was able to cairn soon after, as the pain went away gradually.

1 remember trying to take a nap, and then my phone rang. lt was the Patients Services, and they told

me 1 was needed back at the hospital in the emergency room. 1 asked why, because 1 was sent home

and 1 was ready to fly home the following day, that's all I thought about, was to get home. They told

me just to go there, that the driver was ready for me to pick me up, he was already downstairs. 1 didn't take anything with me, just my purse, because 1 thought they just wanted to tell me my results, so 1

went into the emergency and 1 didn't wait long when the doctor called me in. The first thing he said was: "Are you in pain?" and 1 remember telling him: "Not anymore, but 1 was when 1 had the ultrasound. He looked at me and said: "You are very sick." 1 didn't know if 1 should laugh, or if 1 should cry. l looked

at him and 1 thought he must know how 1 felt. He told me, he explained that after my ultrasound they

found three cysts: the first one was huge and right below my breast bone, all the way down right below my stomach, and the second one already over halfway, not really touching my breast bone yet but it was over halfway to the first one and all the way down to my stomach, and the third one was wrapped around my avaries five times.

Just because 1 wanted to go home, 1 told him that 1 wasn't sick anymore. He told me 1 was really sick, and 1 didn't know if 1 should laugh again. He explained to me the damages that this could have done,

and asked me when was the last time that 1 went to the hospital in Chisasibi. 1 told him, and added 1 was told it didn't need a Medivac. He mentioned that if it had busted, 1 wouldn't have made it to Val­d'Or even if they called a Medivac. 1 was so surprised, 1 didn't know how deadly it was. He said when

he looked at the ultrasound, 1 had been sick for at least three or four years. 1 told him about the little pain 1 was feeling at first, and 1 told him 1 was always prescribed Metamucil.

X

Enquêteur

X

Déclarant

Commlsslon,d'enquête sur les relations entre les Autochtones et certains services publics

Commission d'fHKJCJlt• sur les relations entre les Autochtones et certains servlas publics

r'\1 .-b DIB

�ue ecae

He was mad. He said he was called in, because he was out of the hospital, and 1 thought he was mad at me because of that, and 1 apologized, and he said: "No, 1 am mad at the fact that the places where

you went, they didn't look at those properly." When he said that, 1 didn't take it in, lt didn't hit me what he said that 1 couldn't have made it if it busted. 1 do a lot of physical work, 1 go to camp a lot, so 1 was thinking of the times when 1 was cleaning a caribou hide and 1 had to use my stomach, and it just dawned on me it could have busted at any time. 1 remember him mentioning he would make a report, but l'm not sure if it was really done, because he wanted me to stay in the hospital right away. He said 1 would have emergency surgery and it might be done that same night. He checked up on me so many

times, 1 remember telling them to stop checking up on my while 1 was in the emergency. They would

do blood tests and check my stomach if 1 was in pain.

The surgery was scheduled for the next moming, he said that 1 shouldn't wait any longer. He told me

he had another surgeon with him in the room, in case if one of the cysts bust, the liquid, the other surgeon would be ready to do a full eut across my stomach. They were so lucky that they did the hales.

After my surgery, he came to see me and said that they filled up five bags of liquids, and 1 remember

because when 1 went into the emergency they weighed me on the scale, and the day 1 left the hospital, they had to wait me, and 1 was down twenty-seven pounds. So that was my experience, 1 felt like no one took me seriously, even in Chisasibi, because the nurses started to know me with my pain, and as one of the nurse walks away from the emergency room, 1 am not sure if she was trying to ask me directly, when she walked away, she said: ''l'm not even sure if you are just here to get pain medication." They thought 1 was there for that.

06: For the drug?

A6: Yes, morphine. 1 started to get that. 1 know it helped me, but 1 didn't think anything of that, because then 1 would go to the hospital each time. That was really hard to hear, 1 felt like no one took me

seriously, especially in Val-d'Or, 1 was surprised by the comment that it was okay to vomit blood when

1 was in a lot of pain. At least there was a doctor that saw the need for me to have surgery to remove the cysts, to have a proper look. When he said 1 had been very sick probably for two or three years, it hit me after; only after my surgery did it hit me. Now other doctors took me seriously.

They had to ail for an escort to corne from Chisasibi to Val-d'Or, so my grandmother flew in the day of

my surgery, because they said they didn't know what could happen because of the size of the cysts.

lt was really something, 1 heard people going through stuff with the hospitals, but 1 never thought 1

would go through that myself. And also telling the doctors here in Chisasibi that it's not my stools, because 1 know my body somehow, but they insisted. 1 didn't want to question them, thinking that they

know better than me. Now 1 know how to speak up for myself more, if 1 believe that it is not what they might say. The doctor couldn't believe in Val-d'Or that 1 was not brought by Medivac.

X

Enquêteur

X

Déclarant

1Commisslon d'enquête sur les relations entre les Autochtones et certains services publics

Commission d'tmqultf! sur l•s ni.rions f!ntre l•s AutodJton.s etcert•lns services publics

r'\1 �b DIB

'<.ue ecee

07: Vou said there were no beds in the hospital; do you know if the ER was very busy at that time?

A7: No, because when 1 was in the hallway at first, the nurses were just around talking, and a few of them sat down-there was a table there-and they were just talking in French and laughing. When 1

would tell them in English that 1 was in so much pain, they would just look at me and laughed and say something in French.

08: How old were you at that time?

AB: 1 was twenty-five.

09: Were you ever offered the services of a translator by a hospital by the services of Chisasibi? Vou said the nurses were only speaking French, by the hospital or by the services of Chisasibi?

A9: No, in Hull I asked if somebody spoke in English and they said not right away, but in Chisasibi they spoke English.

010: Val-d'Or neither?

A 10: Val-d'Or, the first time they didn't really speak properly in English, 1 would be able to make up their sentences, but 1 couldn't repeat or say it back in French. They tried but they said they didn't have anyone at that point that spoke English.

011: Later on the bench, do you know if someone came to take a look at you, or did they notice you were on the bench, laying there?

A 11: No, no one came to see me, no one came to check up on me at ail, because it was in a little hall, but the waiting room was just right there, we could see it, but lt was blocked off by a wall. lt was just my brother and myself.

012: When they called you and gave you a room, did they know that you were an English-speaking person?

A 12: Ves, it's the first thing 1 told them in the hallway after the ambulance drove me there, the lady that took my medical card spoke in French, but 1 kept telling them that 1 only spoke English, and that if 1 get called in, how would 1 know the number, and she said 1 would know that they would say it in English, but they never did.

X

Enquêteur

X

Déclarant

Commission.d'enquête sur les relation� entre les Autochto_11es et·certains services1publics

Commission d'.nqult• sur les mations entre les Autodltones etcert•lns services publics

f"'\1 "'b D H

'<.ue ecae

013: You also said that you left the hospital without seeing a doctor; how did you feel at that time, emotionally?

A 13: 1 was so mad, especially that my name was called in the intercom, 1 felt so angry, as if 1 was

nothing, as if my lite meant nothing to them, especially that they are professionals, and that they are supposed to try to help people. The lady at the front too, not being able to tell us, and it's the first thing that 1 say, that 1 speak English. 1 felt angry that now 1 know how others felt, when 1 would see on social media how they were treated, now 1 know how they felt. At first 1 always thought it wasn't that bad, but when 1 went through it myself, it's really something.

Q14: Each time you went to the hospital, you spoke about the Gatineau and Val-d'Or and Hull hospitals, were you with someone or sometimes you went just by yourself?

A 14: Each time 1 was always with someone; 1 travel a lot with my brother, that's when those would happen. He would always corne with me, so 1 would always have someone else, if l'm in pain, 1 don't think 1 could listen so well or talk. 1 would get agitated when someone talked to me when 1 was in pain.

Q15: So most of the time your brother was with you?

A 15: Yes, but the ones in Chisasibi, my grandmother would corne with me or 1 would go alone.

Q16: Sometimes they ask the witness of the event if they want to share also what they saw about the event, so do you think your brother would be interested in sharing what he saw?

A 16: Probably, as long as someone is with him to translate, because he does understand English, but he is not able to really say, he needs someone to translate.

Q17: We would be able to find someone.

A17: Even 1 or my grandmother can do the translation for him.

Q18: You said that you went back and forth to the hospital at the very beginning of your story; you said

you left without seeing a doctor and then it was a few days, but your pain was so much unbearable. How many days did that part last?

A18: The pain would last, the most 1 remember having it a full day, but 1 eventually knew how to lay

down, as if 1 know how to release something in my stomach, and then the pain would be gone. 1 could

not lie on my stomach or my side. 1 eventually knew the technique of how to lay down, but before my surgery it didn't work anymore.

X

Enquêteur

X

Déclarant

Commlssion.d'e!!_quête sur les relations entre les Autochtones et certains services p!.Jblics

Commission d'fmqulte sur les rel�lons entn les Autodttones •tcerlalns nrvlces publics

�1 "'b mimi

'<.ue ec in e

Q19: When you went to the hospital, you said they never checked your blood pressure; did they ever take blood tests or something like that?

A 19: There was a time when they didn't bother, especially the one in Hull, and the first time in Val­d'Or; especially in Hull, 1 remember not having any tests whatsoever. The one in Hull, they didn't even talk to me at all, but the one in Val-d'Or they asked me questions, and they sa id it was my stools, and

would give me Metamucil. They just based their decisions on the answers 1 gave them, on how 1 felt.

Q20: Sa they kind of pushed an idea in your head, and you believed them because they were doctors.

A20: Yes.

Q21: Vou said you took Advil every two hours, but the pain was still there?

A21: Yes, the pain became so unbearable, that's why 1 ended up taking Advil every two heurs, and 1 took two tablets, and 1 remember finishing the small bottle within a week.

Q22: ln Chisasibi, there is a health centre?

A22: We have a hospital.

023: Did you go there to get your Advil, were they provided by the hospital in Chisasibi, or you had to buy them?

A23: 1 bought them at the store.

024: If you go to the health centre every day and take Advil, they might question the pain.

A24: Usually, they usually give you twice what you take and then you have to buy them yourself.

Q25: So they provided Advil but after you have to make it on your own.

A25: Yes because J remember they gave me two pills, and they asked if 1 had any at home.

X

Enquêteur

X

Déclarant

Commission d'enquête, sur les relations entre les Autochtones et certains,servlces publics

Commission d'Mqulf• sur ,.s rellltlons •ntrel•s Autocltton•s •tc•ltalns nrvlœs publics

n1 �b 11811181 '<.ue eC11811181

Q26: After that, you said you were so much in pain that your grandmother called the first responders,

and they drave you to the health centre. Most of the time you were with your brother or your grandmother, but when you were with the first responders, how the hospital reacted, for you to have professional witnesses with you?

A26: After that, that's when there were two doctors and that they brought that little machine that was not really clear, it was not really good. 1 felt like they took it seriously, this is when they were trying to find out other things, not just saying it's my stools.

Q27: Do you think it was because you were with someone else or because they just found out you were really sick?

A27: 1 find it was because the first responders that drove me there, 1 assumed that they knew now that 1 was for sure in pain and that 1 needed medical attention.

Q28: When you started vomiting blood, the lady that told you it was normal, do you know who was the employee, where she was from?

A28: lt was in the Val-d'Or hospital when that happened, when 1 had my ultrasound. At that time, when 1 got sick, it was before 1knew 1 had cysts, that was the ultrasound department.

Q29: lnstead of your family, did you speak of ail that to someone else?

A29: lt's mostly family members, my relatives.

Q30: Do you know if the hospital, because you came back to the hospital sa many times, did you ever see the history of your visits there, or it was always someone new?

A30: lt was almost ail the time someone new, because they corne and go, the doctors, it was almost always someone new except the week when 1 went to the hospital every day.

Q31: Vou said the doctor got mad, do you remember the name of that doctor?

A31: No, 1 probably have it at home, 1 remember having it at home.

X

Enquêteur

X

Déclarant

Commission d'enquête sur les relations entre les AH!QÇhtones et certains services publics

Commission d'enqulte sur les relations •ntre IM AutocbtoMS •t �@rtalns services publics

r-\1 ,.b Dl Dl

'<.ue ecea

032: Vou said he might do a report at his job, but you never got to know if it was done. Did you ever see any correspondance related to that report or something?

A32: 1 have my doctor's note, 1 just can't read his writing, all 1 can read is "doctor'. 1 just found my document in my computer, but 1 can't read it.

033: If you have the document, they might ask if would if they can have a copy; if they ask, you be able to share that document with us.

A33: Yes, 1 probably have to go through my folder at home and see what 1 can find.

034: Do you think that by being native, it impacted the way that they treated you in those different places?

A34: 1 was hoping not to, but 1 do feel like it had an impact, especially ln Val-d'Or and in Hull, it had an impact on how 1 was treated and prioritized; 1 was not a priority to anyone, not matter how much pain

1 was in, how much 1 cried when 1 was in pain, it felt like it was normal to them, especially when 1 was vomiting blood and told lt was normal. 1 felt llke if 1 was non-Native 1 would have everything done for the first tlme 1 went to the hospital.

035: ln all that event that you shared, did you have at flst any expectations when you went to the hospital that first time, and do you have any recommendatlons on how they should have made it?

A35: 1 expected, especially when an ambulance drives you to the city, when it's not even your home town, 1 expected to be treated like anyone else when they are really sick or when they are really in pain, someone would look at my chart, do blood tests, and so forth. 1 expected to be seen by a doctor. 1 understand there are a lot of people who wait in the emergency room that are in a lot of pain too, but

the way 1 felt, 1 had never felt that pain anywhere ever before, and 1 was really disappointed. 1 would

have hoped that in the future, if anyone ever goes through what 1 went through, to demand that they be seen right away, especially after the doctor told me in Val-d'Or that 1 wouldn't even have made it if it had busted.

036: So the recommandation would be to . . ..

A36: If someone goes through that, to demand and speak up, and make requests to really be seen, and for the hospitals, not to have anyone wait so long and not to prioritize people because of their culture.

X

Enquêteur

X

Déclarant

Commission d'enquête sur les relations entre les Autochtones et certains services p�blics

E

Commission d'enqulte sur les relations entn l.s Autochton.s et certains fft111CH publks

r"\1 �b H D

�ue ecee

037: So you think that having a translation service, being sure that the persan is well understood and ta express themselves in a proper way, in their own language, do you think it would be a good thing?

A37: Yes, and especially in Gatineau or Hull, they should have at least someone all the time that speaks and understands English,. in case someone doesn't understand French, instead of saying they don't have anyone.

038: And for the Chisasibi hospital, do you have any recommendations?

A38: 1 always tell the doctors to stop telling people to corne back when they are sicker, to corne back if there is more pain, ta go home and take Tylenols because there is nothing they can do. That's their motto, it's their everyday saying: "Come back when you are sicker, corne back in a few days if you still feel like this." When 1 felt like that they still sent me home, and told me to corne back if l'm sicker. How much sicker can you get, until you almost can't make it? 1 would really want them to take people seriously; we know our own bodies, we know the pain that we go through. 1 would just want them to make sure, to double-check everything and not just tell people to go home and corne back when they are sicker.

039: Do you want to add something?

A39: 1 feel like l've touched on the very important of what 1 went through already, and that 1 was able to express more through your questions, so 1 feel like 1 told ail the details that are significant in what happened to me.

040: Did you ever consider suing or making a complaint against one of those hospitals, or did someone advise you to make a complaint?

A40: 1 never wrote anything about what happened or made a complaint but my grandmother suggested that 1 should, and 1 just never bothered with it, so only when 1 saw lïis post, about what they do and what the work they did, that's when 1 contacted her.

041: So the only thing you did was to contact us?

A41: Yes, and 1 never wrote a letter of complaint about the experiences 1 went through, only my

grandmother recommended that 1 should, and other people that she spoke to recommend that 1 should, 1 just didn't feel like 1 wanted to bother anymore.

042: Vou said you didn't want to bother anymore, but how did you feel about that idea of suing the hospital or making a complaint about the hospital? Sorne people say there is such a process to go through, that they won't go that way, because it's already lost before they even start the process.

X

Enquêteur

X

Déclarant

Commission d'enquête sur,les relations entre_le� Autochtones et ce11ains services publics

E

EE