Uko family pleased with recommendations made after public inquest

The jury at the public inquest into the death of Samwel Uko provided 20 recommendations to the Saskatchewan Health Authority on how it can prevent turning away suicidal patients again.

Samwel Uko was 20 years old when he died by drowning in Wascana Lake on May 21, 2020.

According to his family, the former University of Saskatchewan Huskies football player had gone to a Regina hospital seeking help for mental health issues, but was turned away without getting assistance.

After a five-day inquest in Regina, the six-person jury made its recommendations Friday — including some made to the SHA on how it can help people of colour access mental health services.

Uko’s family contends he didn’t get treated because he was Black.

The jury recommended that all hospital staff members get cultural diversity training, including on institutionalized racism, unconscious bias and micro-aggression.

The jury also recommended that hospital staff get mental health training, that all emergency department staff be trained in de-escalation tactics, and that a police officer be placed in the emergency room of hospitals 24 hours a day seven days a week.

Justin Nyee, Uko’s uncle, said the family was pleased with the recommendations. He said the findings admit there is racism in the province’s health-care system.

“You don’t need to be blind to see the racism component of what happened to Samuel; (the jury) saw it. For the last five days, the hospital had been dodging the question of anti-racism,” he said.

“(The jury members) are not medical professionals, they’re just ordinary people who sit in the room and heard all the people come in. (The jury members) were like, ‘There is a racism component to this.’

“Their recommendations were all on point,” Nyee added. “There is not one point I disagree with. Everything they said on that 20-point (list) I agree with, every single one of them.”

Nyee hopes the hospital and the Saskatchewan government will take the inquiry seriously to help prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.

However, the jury did determine through information it received that Uko did not die by suicide, but rather by “undetermined circumstance.”

The family will now focus on advocating for people with mental health issues.

“We lost someone from our family because of mental health because the hospital dropped the ball on them,” Nyee stated. “We have to fight for people who still have mental health (issues) and the hospital doesn’t look after them.”

A civil lawsuit is also underway, but that is before the courts and the family could not further comment on it.

Nyee feels the inquiry was worth the wait.

“I came here hoping I would get some answers,” he said. “When I got here and heard from all the witnesses, I just reaffirmed my belief that, ‘OK, these people (from the hospital) are lying and this is what happened.’

“As of now, I can say I have relief leaving from here. After coming here and seeing what happened, I know the truth is coming out and people are listening to it and people know he wasn’t treated nicely at the hospital.”

In July of 2020, the SHA apologized to Uko’s family for its role in his death, saying he “did not get the care he needed” when he visited the Regina General Hospital seeking help.