After having experienced the worst torture of a parent – that of seeing their daughter die before their eyes – a resident and first responder from Caplan, in Gaspésie, now claims to be going through “hell”, having to fight to obtain her benefits. the CNESST.
On April 25, 2021, Myla Lepage Babin had her throat pierced by a shard of metal coming from a metal can that she and her partner had accidentally put in the fire where several residues from the renovation work on their home were burning.
The spouse of the 26-year-old woman immediately called the mother of Myla Lepage Babin who had just left their home, knowing that she worked as a first responder in the region, just like Myla Lepage Babin.
“In the voice that I heard, it was clear that there was an emergency,” said the mother, Anick Lepage, in an interview on the show Current cases.
Her daughter’s partner simply asked her to come back quickly, because there was an urgent situation. At that time, Anick Lepage believed that a road accident had taken place in front of her daughter’s house.
“I arrived on the scene and discovered that it was my daughter who was on the ground,” says Mme The page.
“We are not ready for that, to intervene on someone so close, but we have no choice. “It’s the intervention of our lives,” she adds.
The one who is a volunteer first responder and psychosocial mental health worker had to demonstrate exceptional composure.
“I lost my footing [pendant] 20 to 30 seconds and I quickly pulled myself together to provide the emergency care Myla needed,” explains Anick Lepage.
Just a few minutes later, the paramedics arrived.
Even though Myla’s mother did everything she could, as did the paramedics and hospital staff, the 26-year-old unfortunately lost her life.
Fight against the CNESST
Nearly three years later, Anick Lepage is now experiencing a second ordeal: that of having to fight to obtain her benefits.
Although the CNESST initially agreed to compensate her, it now claims that Mme Lepage was not acting as a first responder.
“For them, I was no longer an intervener, I was a woman who had acted voluntarily on a situation that was my daughter,” she mentions.
During a meeting, the CNESST nevertheless accepted the complaint of the victim’s mother and recognized that the event was sufficiently tragic to justify post-traumatic shock syndrome.
It was the reviewers of the file who subsequently began to “give him trouble”.
Already on sick leave due to brain surgery, Anick Lepage was due to gradually return to work in August. However, the tragedy in which her daughter lost her life affected her to the point where a return to work was no longer an option.
The latter claims to have problems with concentration and memorization in particular.
“Medication alleviates the symptoms. It allows you to sleep and reduces visions, smells, sound, but without medication I wouldn’t really function,” says M.me The page.
“On August 15, I considered that at that time I should have started receiving income replacement compensation from the CNESST, but they considered that it was the 1er November which was the day the doctor filled out a report,” she adds.
So far, Anick Lepage has tried in vain to convince the CNESST to hear his arguments and pay him his benefits.
“For me it was a question of justice, morality and high principles to win the equivalent of 800 more. It had nothing to do with money,” she says.
To see the full interview, watch the video above.