A homeless man begged for help, but shelter couldn’t be found. 24 hours later he was on life support | 24CA News

On a cloudy and chilly November afternoon, Richard Thomas was strolling alongside Baker Street in downtown Nelson, B.C., when a person stumbled towards him, grabbed his arm, and begged for assist.

Thomas and his spouse Karen felt compelled to do no matter they may to get a roof over his head.

For the subsequent hour they tried in useless to search out indoor shelter for the person, a 60-year-old Kootenays resident who’s homeless and mentally in poor health, finally leaving him at a assist group assembly. 

But over the subsequent 24 hours, the person would find yourself in hospital twice, the second time on life assist with a doubtlessly deadly blood an infection.

His plight reveals how B.C.’s social security web is failing folks with complicated wants, the person’s household says.

“He’s a human being that is being kicked around by a system that doesn’t want him,” mentioned his niece Nicole, in tears.

She mentioned her uncle has struggled with psychological sickness for many of his life, and intermittently with alcohol, and fell into homelessness about 10 years in the past following a divorce.

24CA News has agreed to not title the person or give Nicole’s final title to guard his privateness.

‘I felt ashamed our programs could not assist him’

After encountering the person, the Thomases started their try to assist him by visiting an area resort, hoping to purchase the person a room for the evening.

But the resort required identification, which the person did not have, and would not let him keep, fearing he can be disruptive to different visitors.

Next, the couple referred to as the native shelter, Stepping Stones, who mentioned the person had been banned from the positioning for disruptive behaviour.

They then referred to as their pastor, who recommended contacting Nelson police. The police advised Thomas they had been conversant in the person, however there was nothing they may do.

The man finally requested the couple to take him to an area assembly of Alcoholics Anonymous, the place they left him at about 6:30 p.m.

“I felt ashamed that I couldn’t help him,” mentioned Thomas, 56, an area accountant. “And the more I thought about it, the more I felt ashamed that our systems couldn’t help him.”

A person on the assembly who knew the person’s niece referred to as her and put her uncle on the cellphone. 

“He was barely able to talk,” mentioned Nicole, who lives about 5 hours’ drive away within the Okanagan Valley. She advised her buddy on the assembly to name an ambulance. When it arrived, he referred to as Nicole again and put the decision on speakerphone.

“I could hear the ambulance attendant saying to my uncle that the hospital is not housing,” she mentioned, and that “calling the ambulance for my uncle was a waste of community resources.”

Nonetheless, the person was admitted to the Kootenay Lake Hospital in Nelson. Just a few hours later, Nicole bought a name from a nurse.

“That nurse told me that he had seen a doctor, that he was assessed and he would now be discharged,” she mentioned. “I told that nurse that if they discharged him that night, he would die.”

Despite these issues, he was discharged round midnight with nowhere to go. The temperature had dropped to –6 C.

The Kootenay Lake Hospital wouldn’t touch upon the particular case. 

In a press release, Interior Health mentioned following up with discharged sufferers “may not be possible if an individual does not accept those services or does not accept the initial medical advice from our hospital teams.”

Found unconscious within the chilly

At midday the subsequent day, Nov. 30 — about 12 hours after being discharged from Kootenay Lake Hospital — the person’s household was contacted by workers at one other hospital in a close-by group, who mentioned he had been discovered unconscious exterior.

CBC isn’t naming the hospital for privateness causes.

Family members advised CBC their relative had been recognized with sepsis, a doubtlessly deadly blood an infection, which originated in his knee. 

He was positioned on life assist, which included a medically induced coma and a ventilator. He underwent a number of surgical procedures and was acutely aware however unco-operative, in response to his household, who say his leg might must be amputated.

Nicole says her uncle should not have had to undergo this.

“On this one night,” she mentioned, “there was an ambulance, police, nurses, doctors, and nothing good happened for my uncle,” she mentioned.

Attempts to intervene

Relatives of the person advised CBC they’ve tried to intervene repeatedly prior to now, providing him assist, cash and housing, however three of them mentioned his habit and psychological sickness have progressed past what they will deal with.

Last yr, they mentioned, he was admitted underneath the B.C. Mental Health Act to Hillside Centre in Kamloops, which gives residential look after folks with extreme psychological sickness. Once he was stabilized, he was discharged — and instantly stopped taking his medicine.

“Then his mom got sick with COVID and passed away,” mentioned Nicole, “and my uncle went further into his mental illness.”

His household desires him positioned again in psychiatric care, one in all his kin mentioned.

New B.C. Premier David Eby has vowed to make that choice extra viable for folks with extreme psychological sickness. 

“People will see more interventions in terms of mental health and addiction treatment on an involuntary basis,” Eby advised CBC earlier than he was sworn in. 

“That kind of gap, where physicians feel like they’re sending someone out, potentially to die in the street … obviously the status quo isn’t working.”

Nelson has the very best fee of homelessness within the southern Interior, with simply over eight unsheltered residents per 1,000 folks, in response to a current depend by the Nelson Committee on Homelessness.

Downtown shelters have been controversial in neighbouring communities like Trail, the place metropolis council just lately voted to increase an settlement on shelter capability — however solely till B.C. Housing can discover a new location away from the industrial centre of city.