REGINA -- Friends and family of Samwel Uko came together in Wascana Park Friday night to remember the 20-year-old one year after he was found dead in the lake, hours after seeking help at a Regina hospital.

Those gathered took a quiet walk around the west side of the lake, starting at the front of the Saskatchewan Legislative Building and ending at the memorial where Uko went into the water.

There were songs, tears and an emotional plea from Uko’s family to keep fighting for the young man who was gone too soon.

Muna De Ciman, a friend of the family, said what happened to Uko comes down to racial bias and the stigma around mental health. She said Uko wasn’t taken seriously at the hospital because he is Black.

“I’m not going to beat around the bush, this is all about who came to the hospital and how that person was looking. That person was looking not in the best suit because he was sick,” said De Ciman.

SAMWEL’S FINAL DAY 

On the morning of May 21, 2020, the former University of Saskatchewan football player went to the Regina General Hospital, where he told medical staff he was having trouble sleeping due to chronic pain from a previous car accident and was struggling with depression, according to Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) documents.

Samwel Uko

The documents show Uko told staff at the hospital he was not experiencing suicidal thoughts and he was cleared to go home. He left the hospital with medication, a referral to the mental health clinic, contact information for mobile crisis and was urged to return to hospital if he felt unsafe.

His family said he was taken to hospital by police a second time later that afternoon, after he called 911 to seek mental health attention. The SHA said Uko refused to give nurses his name – though he had given police his last name and date of birth – which led to security escorting him out of the hospital.

Surveillance video shows Uko screaming for help as four security officers physically removed him from the emergency room.

Uko Surveillance

Within hours of being removed from the hospital Uko walked to Wascana Lake – where his body was found by search and rescue teams later that evening. Uko’s family believes he died by suicide.

AN APOLOGY FROM THE HEALTH AUTHORITY

Two months after Uko’s death, the SHA apologized for its role. SHA CEO Scott Livingstone said too much time was spent trying to identify Uko and not enough attention was given to the care he required.

Samwel Uko

The SHA said it put a quality improvement plan in place, which would make a number of changes to screening protocols, including addressing gaps in the process for removing someone from an SHA facility and improving registration and triage processes.

The health authority also said it would take “system-wide actions on mental health and cultural responsiveness,” acknowledging that “consideration must be given to the larger context of Samwel’s racial background and general struggles faced by individuals like Samwel trying to access appropriate mental health supports.”

Uko’s family has launched a lawsuit against the SHA and Saskatchewan government, saying the province failed to protect him in his most vulnerable state. A coroner’s inquest will further examine what happened, although a date still needs to be set.

More to come…