Family of Winnipeg man urged him to get help for mental health struggles before his death
CBC
WARNING: This story contains discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of self-harm, see the end of this story for resources.
The family of a 29-year-old man who took his own life inside Winnipeg's Waverley Grand Mosque last week are speaking up amid the devastating loss to address the stigma of mental illness — and to correct the record about the circumstances surrounding his death.
Abdul-Hamid Al-Sheikh Omar died after self-immolating at the mosque last Saturday, on the eve of the Eid al-Adha religious holiday, his older brother told CBC News on Wednesday.
A statement issued by the Manitoba Islam Association shortly after the incident suggested the ongoing crisis in Gaza may have played a role in Abdul-Hamid's suicide.
His brother, Ahmad, said that's not accurate.
"I don't know what made them think that he did that for Palestine. It has no connection to what is happening in Gaza," he said.
"This basically happened because of the years of him suffering from mental health."
Ahmad said the family are from Syria. They mostly lived in the United Arab Emirates, and then for two years in Istanbul, before coming to Canada.
Ahmad said Abdul-Hamid experienced some mental health issues in Turkey. The family tried to seek out help after arriving in Canada from a family doctor, but Abdul-Hamid always resisted any treatment.
"Before we came to Canada, we started noticing that Abdul-Hamid's behaviour started to shift away from reality," Ahmad said, adding that the health-care professionals who saw him told the family they couldn't force treatment because he was an adult.
"As a family, we started noticing his extreme behaviour — whether extreme having fun, or extreme being super religious.… Day by day, we realize that he's not able to even control his thoughts."
Ahmad said his brother suffered from delusions, claiming to be a prophet that Muslims believe will appear in the end times, and that he started to show severe symptoms of schizophrenia in the weeks leading to the incident.
They planned to take him back to the hospital after Eid al-Adha.
Ahmad says that the last day before his death, there was nothing unusual in his brother's behaviour. Abdul-Hamid bought pizza and had dinner with his family, and they all watched TV together.
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