For two years the family of Samwel Uko has wanted people to view their Black son as a human being.
On Friday, they received that relief after a jury at an inquest into Uko’s death found gaps in the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s diversity training especially as it relates to institutionalized racism.
“I put my faith in them,” said Uko’s uncle Justin Nyee speaking on behalf of the family. “I knew if they saw Samwel as a human they would come out and reaffirm my belief that this was only because he was Black.”
The 20-year-old football player from Abbotsford, B.C., drowned himself in Regina on May 21, 2020.
Uko had sought help twice that day at Regina General Hospital after expressing he was hearing voices but was forcibly removed from the hospital during his second visit by four security guards.
Nyee said the family believes he was turned away because he was Black.
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“If he had looked like (the nurse), like her brother, like her son, like a human being, she would have tried the best to help him,” Nyee said Friday of the nurse who ordered Uko out of the hospital chair he was sitting in.
“If she had seen herself in him, she would have tried to help him.”
Most of the jury’s recommendations were aimed at the Saskatchewan Health Authority and centre on how it can better help people of colour access mental health services.
Jurors recommended all hospital staff get cultural diversity training, including on institutionalized racism, unconscious bias and micro-aggression. They also want the health authority to incorporate questions about diversity, mental health and biases during their interview process for new staff.
They urged the health authority to give all staff training in de-escalation tactics and to keep a psychiatric nurse on staff 24 hours a day.
In a statement, the Saskatchewan Health Authority issued another apology for the events that led up to Uko’s death. Spokesperson Doug Dahl said the health authority will consider the recommendations and draft a response in the coming weeks back to the chief coroner, who oversaw the inquest.
Nyee said for the past five days witnesses within the Saskatchewan Health Authority dodged their questions related to racism in the workplace and diversity.
“The jury saw what we did,” Nyee said. “They are not medical professionals, they’re just other people who sat in the room … and said … there is a racism component to this.”
Taban Uko, Samwel’s father, said he hopes the Saskatchewan Party government will seriously consider the recommendations so this doesn’t happen again.
For the family, keeping Uko’s memory alive and celebrating his life requires continuing to advocate for others with mental health issues across Canada.
“We have to fight. We have other people who still have mental health issues,” Nyee said.
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