Well known in the media for his criticism of the health system and care for the elderly, beneficiary attendant Jean Bottari died suddenly Thursday at his residence in Rawdon. He was 61 years old.
Posted at 12:44 p.m.
Mr. Bottari often appeared as an analyst in newspapers, on television and at conferences on health issues.
Very present on social networks, he had again published a message on Wednesday on Facebook, to denounce the management of the elderly patients by the health system, while Quebec is experiencing a new wave of COVID-19.
“It happened very, very suddenly,” says his spouse, Caroline Lafrance. “He collapsed on the ground, I heard a boom, I went and he wasn’t breathing. Immediately, I called the ambulance. »
Herself a nursing assistant, Mme Lafrance began resuscitation maneuvers, which the paramedics continued when they arrived. Other maneuvers were attempted in the hospital.
“But they were never able to restart his heart,” said his wife, who clarified that Mr. Bottari had no known heart problems. “He was healthy, it’s very unexpected. »
Mme Lafrance praised the combativeness of her husband, very involved in the community and who fought to defend his convictions. “He was an exceptional man who always put others before him,” she testifies with emotion.
It was Jean Bottari’s daughter, Cassandra Bottari-Laporte, who first announced her father’s death via a message on Facebook.
“It was exactly three weeks to the day after my grandfather’s death that my father suddenly went to join him. It all seems very unreal. Let your heart soar, carried by peace and love daddy, ”she wrote.
His death comes indeed shortly after the death of his own father, Nello Bottari. Jean Bottari had moreover published in The Press a letter denouncing the circumstances of this death.
Jean Bottari, who was also president of his union, had retired as a beneficiary attendant a few years ago, but had returned to service when Prime Minister François Legault made a call to this effect at the start of the pandemic. He was currently out of work due to a knee injury.