Tragic death rocks Occupy Vancouver site

[Tripper11]

Source: Vancouver Sun

A 20-something female died late Saturday afternoon of what authorities are calling a "medical emergency" after she stopped breathing in a tent at the Occupy Vancouver site.

The woman, whom Occupy participants were calling "Ashley" was found unresponsive by Occupy's medical team around 4:30 p.m. and was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The death, following an overdose at the site Thursday, prompted Mayor Gregor Robertson to say there is an urgent need to shut down the site due to "life safety" issues.

"Obviously really really tragic circumstances - this loss of life and the overdose just a few days ago clearly demonstrate though that the situation here in camp has deteriorated. Life safety is paramount," Robertson said at an 8 p.m. media scrum on the west side of the art gallery. "I have directed the city manager to expedite the appropriate steps to end the encampment as soon as possible, with a safe resolution being absolutely critical to that."

Robertson hinted that city officials would begin to seek a legal injunction to stop the tent city, but would not give a concrete date or strategy to closing the tent city down.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Tragic+death+rocks+Occupy+Vancouver+site/5664471/story.html#ixzz1cvzSXaga


Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Tragic+death+rocks+Occupy+Vancouver+site/5664471/story.html

[ananda]

1. If not there, anywhere.

It could have been a bathroom, a bedroom, a closet... Overdoses
have no special boundaries.

[secondwind]

2. Nail on head, pal.

[Name removed]

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[freshwest]

52. At least close to those she felt safe with? RIP, baby girl.

[Tripper11]

3. To be clear, from the article...

There was an overdose earlier in the week. The woman who died, her cause and manner has not been released yet.
Granted "medical emergency" could mean that or many many other things....

[pangaia]

4. What about

the OVERDOSE OF WAR ?

[24601]

55. We're at war with Canada? Why didn't anybody speak up about

it? Release the drones - quick, before the snowbirds take all the good trailer pads.

[bertman]

5. Close the site down because we all know that people only die unexpectedly at Occupy sites.

Do I need the sarcasm thingie?

The "authorities" will seize on ANY reason to shut down an Occupation.

[Amonester]

11. They will TRY but they will FAIL.

Occupy Vancouver will be back, whether they like it or not (which, in the "authoritie$" case, it sure is "not").

[JDPriestly]

23. Yes. And that is why the Occupy movement should not tolerate

drugs on site.

Drugs will lead to crime and confusion. They will distract the occupiers from the issues that are most important.

If you want to use drugs or drink alcohol, do it at home, not at the Occupy sites.

[rayofreason]

27. You are correct...

...but that does not mean people will behave correctly.

[robinlynne]

29. agreed.

[DallasNE]

25. Exactly

And that is why Occupy leaders need to be alert to what is happening within the ranks. People are wanting to discredit this movement by any means available so this is just playing into their hands. If people want to do stupid things in the privacy of their home that is their business but they need to realize they are impacting many others when they insist on bad behavior at these Occupy sites and cause damage to the goals they set by wanting to be part of the movement.

[SteveM]

39. One should start a catalog of the "reasons"...

Woman supposedly assaulted in NYC, someone dying, transient FUs in Austin, Legally-carried gun in Atlanta. Anymore?

[saras]

6. What's the proportion here compared to the rest of Vancouver?

If it's the same or lower, there's no real issue, and "safety" is just another excuse.

[ChandlerJr]

7. But if we had decent, affordable and accessible healthcare in this

country this kind of shitte could be prevented. Only 20.

[jberryhill]

9. In which country?

Canadians in general have better access to affordable health care than people in the US, so I'm curious to know why you believe this death is symptomatic of a problem with the Canadian healthcare system.

[Amonester]

12. No healthcare system is 100% perfect.

Heavy substances' abuse is also very difficult to deal with.

[jberryhill]

14. Uh, so...

I was responding to a comment which appears to suggest that Canadian drug overdoses would be prevented by having a better health care system in the US.

[Amonester]

17. I got that but I just wanted to say that no healthcare system is perfect.

Although a Single-Payer one that covers everyone is definitely better than a corporate-owned one.

[jberryhill]

18. Neither is an education system which leaves people ignorant of geography

[Amonester]

20. And not just geography.

Although I should apologize for my English-writing skills more often.

Reared in French (Canada) here. Trying my best not to write 'too' bad in English.

[Amonester]

21. Also that organised-crime's sh*t's got my nephew's life at only 36.

One of the nicest guy I ever knew. So sad.

My sister is still devastated to this day, he was her only child.

[Name removed]

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[riverbendviewgal]

33. I agree that we Canadians have a much better health system

Until the full autopsy is revealed we can just guess what happened to this woman.

Our Canadian health care system is awesome.

I can assure this because my son and husband were both diagnosed with cancer within two months of each other. They had the best care even compared to the USA health care.

My son was almost 25 when he was diagnosed with the brain tumor, Glioblastma Multiforme type. He had his first ever seizures on a Friday at work and was operated on the following Monday.. It is the worst of all brain cancers and Sen. Ted Kennedy had the same kind of tumor. My son had the same exact treatments as Kennedy...Nothing was denied. 3 surgeries, radiation, chemo, intensive care for 5 weeks after the last surgery and then palliative care in hospital for a week. He survived 18 months...The doctors told us only 5 percent go beyond 2 years.

My husband had Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and had surgery, chemo, radiation, stem cell transplant, home care and palliative care in hospital for 3 months. He died 18 months after our son died.

We all as a family and individually received psychotherapy during their treatment. My husband, son, his fiancee and his brother and me.

The cost of all of this was ZERO.

AND our government gave me $2300 on each of their deaths toward their funerals.

I myself just recently was sent to an eye surgeon on the same day as seeing my optometrist. The surgeon operated on my detached retina the same day I saw him. He is located a 2 hour drive one way so the government reimbursed me $80 for gasoline...and for each trip afterward for checkups.

I am always amused at the comments that Canadian care is not as good as the USA and we have to wait for treatment. All falsehoods and it is sad that many Americans are so ignorant of the country above them. I love Canada. I stand for thee, My Canada

and we have regulated banks, thankfully.

[renate]

36. I am so sorry... what an unbelievably *heartbreaking* series of events

:hug:

I just can't put into words how sorry I am that you and your family went through this. On a more practical note, I'm glad that at least you didn't have to worry about getting substandard care for lack of insurance, and that you even got the counseling that is so necessary during their treatment. It sounds like your government is actually doing what a government is supposed to do by caring for its citizens when they need it most.

A million :hug: to you.

[jberryhill]

37. If we had what they had

Then there probably wouldn't be that much of an Occupy movement in the US.

The surprise from the US perspective is that there is an Occupy Vancouver at all.

[SammyWinstonJack]

47. It does surprise me.

:shrug:

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

41. What healthcare system protects against self-inflicted lethal injection?

Vancouver is over-run with junkies, any public gathering will have a great many of them.

[TorchTheWitch]

42. This occurred at an Occupy site in Vancouver, Canada

Canada has national healthcare. It's pretty ridiculous to assume that a national healthcare system is going to prevent all illnesses, injuries and deaths. Though without question it is the most beneficial healthcare system in providing quality healthcare to all of a country's citizens it's not going to magically prevent all illnesses, injuries or deaths. A national healthcare system certainly didn't help this 20 year old who died at the Occupy site in Vancouver, Canada where all citizens get medical care through a national healthcare system, however, it is absurd to imagine that it either could or would. A national healthcare system is simply the most beneficial and cost effective system, but it certainly isn't magic and shouldn't be portrayed that way.

[wordpix]

8. good excuse to close the site down; i.e. any excuse will do

:puke:

This woman could have had any no. of medical problems (congenital, epileptic, as well as OD'ing). Geesh

[ejbr]

10. She died a heroine... n/t

[caseymoz]

13. Another bright idea mayor: close down the NHL because their enforcers have been dying.

The death rate in the NHL has been a lot higher than in the general population here recently. Obviously, it's an unsafe industry and the Vancouver Canucks need to be closed down for humane and public safety reasons.

Stupid ass.

[handmade34]

15. I am so sorry for the loss of a young woman

:cry:

this is an excellent reason to continue to occupy and work even harder to make the encampments safe and healthy... "life safety IS paramount" and that is what occupying is all about...

[lonestarnot]

16. How fucking lame! She could have been hit by a bus, gona stop transit then?

[Festivito]

19. Mayor likes people to die at home all alone.

Nothing to shut down from that.

[JDPriestly]

22. Occupy groups must be vigilant about the use of drugs at the sites.

If drug use begin to infest the movement, the movement will fail.

That is precisely what happened to the movement in the 1960s.

No drugs or alcohol inebriation or use has to be a hard and fast rule.

Drugs and alcohol use at the site will give the authorities lots of reasons to close you down. If for no other reason, that should be the reason for barring them.

Take it from one who remember very, very well why the movement of the 1960s did not succeed far more than it did.

[Desertrose]

24. +1. Very good point!

[AngryAmish]

28. By what authority do you kick someone out?

1st Amendment and all that

[alfredo]

30. consensus

[former9thward]

31. No consensus does not trump the Constitution.

Besides by definition if someone does not want to go then there can be no 'consensus".

[JDPriestly]

32. You just surround them and watch them so that they don't use drugs.

It's not the presence of the individual that is a problem. It's that individual's use of drugs.

If the consensus of the group is that no one should use drugs, then someone watches a person who has that problem, and if they use them, then the group surrounds them. That is the way peer pressure is used at the Occupy sites in my understanding.

[alfredo]

35. Within this group, they do have the right to associate with

anyone they want. They can't make her/him leave, but they can shun.

[former9thward]

38. With you there.

[alfredo]

44. Drug issues, and personality problems are a distraction from our message.

We have a clear message here: pull state tax dollars out of Chase, then deposit it in a bank owned and headquartered in Kentucky.

[AngryAmish]

46. ah, a good ol' fashioned shunning

[JDPriestly]

48. In a religious community, it is cruel.

But in a community formed by strangers to accomplish political and educational goals, drugs are such a great distraction that shunning is appropriate.

It can be argued that the person using drugs at an Occupy site is actually shunning the rest of the group and putting the interests and safety of the rest of the group at great risk. So shunning is appropriate to discourage behavior that is anti-social. Drug use at an Occupy site is anti-social because it distracts from the purpose of the Occupy movement.

The whole movement will soon be viewed as just a bunch of druggies. That's not where the movement wants to go form what I can tell.

[KamaAina]

49. No First Amendment in the Great White North

eh?

[civilisation]

40. sorta difficult to search everyone,.

for a rig and a packet,. it has little to do with the occupy camp,. and is just a fact of life. Vancouver has a very high rate of heroin users,. and MANY die in the back allies around east Hastings,. should the mayor close down that whole neighborhood?

[EFerrari]

43. I've never met a rule that trumped an addiction. nt

[me b zola]

26. Deteriorating conditions?

What freaking gall. Living conditions in the US have been deteriorating for 30+ years. Millions of us don't have access to health care or a home to live in but as long as we suffer in isolation not drawing attention to the deteriorating conditions I guess thats alright with Robertson and others who would like Occupy to just fade away.

Comfort and peace to the family and loved ones of the young woman who died fighting to make living conditions better for all of us.

[alp227]

34. Occupy Vancouver protesters will not 'go peacefully'

Occupy Vancouver protesters say they will not be peacefully removed from the lawn of the city's art gallery following the death of a demonstrator.

full: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/11/06/bc-occupy-vancouver-death.html

[clixtox]

45. I know a little about Mayor Gregor Robertson...

and I am sure that he is very, very sympathetic to the goals of the OWS "movement" around the world, in the USA, and especially in Canada.

Being the mayor anywhere is a difficult "balancing act" because of the types of issues, including quality of life issues, that can have many different solutions, or not.

I am sure that his emphasis on peaceful resolutions means that Vancouver OCCUPY will continue, one way or another, with a tighter, more alert, involved, community.

I sure hope so...

[Name removed]

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