An Aboriginal Woman Was Taunted on Her Death Bed in a Canadian Hospital
The story of Joyce Echaquan’s death and her brave last act
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Joyce Echaquan, a 37-year-old loving mother to seven children, passed away Monday, September 28, 2020. Although Joyce was young, she had health problems for most of her life. At the time of her death, she was staying in a hospital in Joliette, 58 kilometers away from Montreal.
When Joyce was admitted to the hospital for stomach pain last week, it was noted that she had a pacemaker and a heart problem. Before her death on Monday, she felt she was given too much morphine and was very worried about the consequences, her cousin Mirella Dubé said in an interview via Facebook.
When she voiced these concerns to the attending nurses, they ignored her cries for help and openly taunted her while she laid strapped to a hospital bed.
A Brave Last Act
While she was dying, Joyce did something that most people wouldn’t think to do or have the strength to do: She grabbed her phone, opened Facebook, and went live for everyone to see how she was being treated.
In the 7-minute-long video, Joyce is panting and struggling to breathe as the nurses who were supposed to be caring for her openly taunted her with sarcastic remarks.
“You’re stupid as hell,” one woman said in French. “Are you done acting stupid? Are you done?”
Another woman was seen at the end of the video, while Joyce gasped for air, she said: “You made some bad choices, my dear. What are your children going to think, seeing you like this, eh?”
“She’s good at screwing, more than anything else. And we’re paying for this,”
The video ended after this interaction and Joyce died. The last words she heard, were the hurtful words these women said to her.
A Troubling History at Some Canadian Hospitals
For almost 10 years, I worked as a medical professional in special care facilities, attending to people who suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia at the end of their lives.
