Family wants answers after death of Quebec woman, who posted to social media pleading for help

“How many others have not been able to record [...] the way they have been mistreated,” says Dr. Naheed Dosani on the death of Mireille Ndjomouo, a Quebec Cameroonian refugee who recorded her final moments in a hospital. Brittany Henriques reports.

Editor’s note: Some people may find the details of this story disturbing. 

CityNews has also translated some of the quotes from online videos.

MONTREAL (CityNews) – Advocates are raising serious concerns after the death of a woman, who recorded herself in a South Shore hospital claiming that staff ignored her concerns about a penicillin allergy.

Mireille Ndjomouo, a 44-year-old single mother of three from Cameroon posted the video to social media on Mar. 7, just days before her death.

“They are making my body swell up. I can’t breathe anymore; I have pimples all over me from head to toe. Please, my dear compatriots, share this video on all social networks. I am asking for the doctor to transfer me to another hospital,” she said in an online video.

“I am begging you to help me leave this hospital – please help me leave Hospital Charles-Le Moyne – it’s in Canada that I came to this hospital because my leg hurt and since I came here, it’s like they are trying to kill me,” Ndjomouo said.

“How many others have not been able to record videos and audio and cannot document the way there were mistreated or medical violence?” asked Dr. Naheed Dosani, a palliative care physician and health justice activist.

Montreal-area advocates have been denouncing what they say is medical negligence and systemic racism in healthcare, with similar resemblance to the death of Joyce Echaquan.

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“It boils down to the technicalities of the medical care and but also around communication and listening and why this tends to happen to people that are racialized in our community,” Dosani said.

“I think you know racialized communities want answers to those questions and deserve answers to those questions.”

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NTi_qugF9Fc

Quebec’s coroner’s office told CityNews that it will be investigating the incident, but cannot comment any further.

A spokesperson for the CISSS de la Montérégie-Centre said they cannot comment on cases relating to users for confidentiality reasons.

On Saturday, a demonstration was held outside the Hospital Charles-Le Moyne with people demanding answers for Ndjomouo’s death.

“I want to say we want justice, but justice at what level? She’s already gone,” said protestor organizer Mililu Kayombo.

“Now, we want to learn. We would like the government to take charge of this file and to make sure something like this never happens to x or y person,” Kayombo added.

“What’s going on with the professionals, and why did it have to go down to this line?” Melanie Boulerice, the founder and owner of the Nomadic Nurse Agency asked.

“It doesn’t make sense to me. We know she has an allergy she was given a medication she was allergic to. It doesn’t make sense to me,” Boulerice said.

“Many people who are racialized as a result of that mistrust or broken relationship with healthcare choose not to pursue they choose to avoid clinics, they avoid ERs, they avoid hospitals because they afraid to be disrespected or treated poorly in healthcare,” Dr. Dosani said.

“That’s why [we need] to create systems that are trauma-informed we need to be more trauma-informed in our healthcare delivery we need to focus on building relations and building back trust, trust that is often broken in racialized communities,” Dosani added.

 

 

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