Witnessing the death of his father while suffering racist comments, resident doctor Wolfe Thyma experienced it in 2019. And he doesn’t wish that on anyone. With a team from the Saint-Michel legal clinic, he launched a project to counter medical racism – the first of its kind in Quebec, according to him.
“I arrived in Quebec at the age of 8. Discrimination and racism, I had experienced before. But there, I was absolutely terrified, ”testifies Wolfe Thyma on the phone.
Friday evening, this resident doctor in psychiatry from the University of Montreal was at TOHU, in the Saint-Michel district. He agreed to deliver his story in the public square. He is not the only one.
It happened in 2019, when his father was hospitalized with a high fever. Mr. Thyma, already a medical student, says he had to insist that his father’s condition be taken seriously at triage.
The nurse walked away and said to a paramedic: “With this world, it’s always the end of the world. It’s just a little flu.” But that paramedic was my brother-in-law.
Wolfe Thyma, Resident Physician
“It’s as if we weren’t human beings”
The worst was yet to come, however, he warned. His father was hospitalized and seemed to be recovering better. But her condition suddenly worsened. Mr. Thyma and his mother were urgently called back to his bedside. The man, who was not 60 years old, was in cardiopulmonary arrest.
Mr. Thyma’s mother fell to her knees, screaming and crying. “The nurse said, ‘That’s enough, I don’t want to hear another word. The rest of you think you can do anything.” She threatened to call security if my mother didn’t stop crying loudly,” said Mr. Thyma.
Four years later, the young doctor is still shaken. “How did I feel?” It’s hard to say because then, all of a sudden, I had just learned that my father – whom I had spoken to two hours before – had just died. And I had just apologized for the fact that my mother was crying. »
It’s as if we weren’t human beings.
Wolfe Thyma, Resident Physician
Raise awareness and help
The death of Joyce Echaquan, this Atikamekw mother who died under racist insults at the Joliette hospital in 2020, was the trigger for this project on medical racism, overseen by the Saint-Michel Legal Clinic. This is the first initiative of its kind in Quebec, according to the organization.
“We realized that there is very little information on this subject, and I found it important to give a voice to the [victimes] says project coordinator Wafaa Ghlamallah.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
The project coordinator, Wafaa Ghlamallah
The initiative has three components. The first targets education and awareness. Leaflets have been designed and will be distributed to health organizations and establishments. The team is also planning a book to document the phenomenon, adds Mme Ghlamallah, herself a law student at the University of Montreal.
In another section, stories were collected and presented in the form of an exhibition at TOHU on Friday evening. “It was a big challenge to get the testimonies”, is still surprised Mme Ghlamallah.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Public testimonials on the evening of the launch
These are events [que les victimes] want to forget, which were very painful. And they feel like they’re not understood.
Wafaa Ghlamallah, project coordinator
The last component plans to offer legal and psychological support to people who believe they have suffered medical racism. If the organization succeeds in securing its funding, this assistance should be offered in the fall or winter of 2023. The service will be open to the population across Quebec.
The project has already received a grant of $5,000 from Québec solidaire and another of $10,000 from the Observatory on racial profiling. An additional sum of $75,000 is needed to set up the initiative, estimates Ms.me Ghlamallah.
“We want to restore the bond of trust”
The aim of the project is not to put the blame on the health personnel, insist the two students.
“The vast majority of my colleagues are phenomenal people who do impeccable work,” says Mr. Thyma. But unfortunately, there are people – like this nurse – who should not be nursing. »
According to him, cultural competence should be part of the training of health professionals. “It’s too important, and the consequences are too serious,” he argues.
“We are not here to criticize the health care system, to say [que les soignants] are racist, adds Mme Ghlamallah. Its very important. We want to create reconciliation, restore the bond of trust and open this collective discussion. »