A First Nations man died day after leaving Ontario hospital with headache pills. Now his family wants answers
CBC
The family of Brent Sky is demanding answers after the 32-year-old from Shoal Lake 40 First Nation was discharged from a hospital in northwestern Ontario with headache pills and died the next day from a brain bleed.
Sky's body was found on the floor of his house in the Ojibway community on Oct. 27. According to his family, 24 hours earlier, he had been discharged from the Lake of the Woods District Hospital in Kenora with ibuprofen pills, an anti-inflammatory medication that can be purchased over the counter.
"That's what I lost, and I don't wish for anybody to ever go through what we're going through" Jonathan Bruyère told CBC News about his son.
Bruyère said Sky was always an active, healthy young man.
"The pain is indescribable."
Sky wasn't accompanied by anyone when he was taken by ambulance to the hospital. Details about how he was treated during his roughly six hours at Lake of the Woods — including who assessed the First Nations man, how long he spent there, if he was admitted to the emergency department and what treatment he received — are still unknown.
Sky's family can't give specific examples about how hospital staff may have treated him, but they worry that systemic racism may have played a role in his death. They fear the health-care staff may not have taken their son's symptoms seriously and discharged him without adequate care.
Hospital officials in Kenora as well as Ontario's chief coroner are still investigating, so there's been no final determination of what Sky experienced while there or what led to his death.
A senior Lake of the Woods official told CBC he could not comment on Sky's case at this time but indicated the hospital is aware that cases of racism have occurred at Lake of the Woods. The official said the hospital is working to improve care for Indigenous patients.
Bruyère is encouraging others to tell their stories in hopes it will lead to improved care for Indigenous people.
"I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't feel the need," he said.
Sitting at a table in Shoal Lake 40, where about 300 people live on reserve 90 kilometres southwest of Kenora, Sky's dad and mom, Tania, sifted through a stack of photos that tell story after story about him.
Most of the photos include fishing, hockey and powwows. One with a large frame shows Sky's eight-year-old daughter, Tyla, in full hockey gear.
WATCH | Jonathan Bruyère talks about his son:
Montreal officials will hold a ceremony to mark the 36th anniversary of the Polytechnique massacre today.
The City of Regina's proposal to build a roadway through the McKell Wascana Conservation Park should be discarded, local conservationists say.
A holiday event that began in 2020 during the pandemic with three floats on pickup trucks has now become one of Kelowna’s big winter events, drawing thousands to the city’s downtown core.
WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse.
It’s been hard to keep track of how many legal challenges and active court proceedings the United Conservative government has tried to quash or pre-emptively block in the last six weeks, but let’s try to tally:
Margaret Walker, the emcee of a Waterloo vigil commemorating the victims of the Montreal massacre, doesn't feel enough is being done to reflect on the killings and address gender-based violence.
The P.E.I. Humane Society says it is doing far more fundraising than it used to, and rising expenses — including the cost of animal medications — are a big reason why.
Ottawa is staring down a court-ordered deadline to submit a new plan to reform the on-reserve child welfare system, as a group of First Nations leaders and children’s advocates prepare a competing proposal.
An underpass revitalization project that was meant to pay tribute to the people of Parkdale has instead deteriorated into “a garbage dump,” according to nearby residents.
A young man has been charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm after a fire at a frat party near Western University that injured five sorority sisters, including two seriously, late Tuesday night.
The massive deal to combine one of Hollywood's oldest studios with a streaming giant hasn't even been approved yet, but it's already riling multiple related industries and politicians concerned about monopolies and media concentration.
Mi'kmaq chiefs and a former Nova Scotia justice minister are criticizing the provincial government for directing police to crack down on illegal cannabis, saying the order undermines relations with Indigenous Peoples.
For years, there has been “glaring inequity” in the way the province has allocated the millions of dollars in its county roads budget, according to Department of Transportation Minister Chuck Chiasson.