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Monday through Saturday, a growing number of people have joined ongoing protests outside Bluewater Health, calling for accountability from the Sarnia hospital for allegedly failing to properly treat 24-year-old Kayla Fillion during a mental health crisis. Three days after her death on November 9, her father Matthew Jacklin started organizing the protests.
In an interview with the Journal, 45-year-old Jacklin, lifelong resident of Sarnia, told us about the events surrounding Kayla Fillion’s passing and why he has organized these protests.
According to Jacklin, Emergency Medical Services showed up to his home in the very early hours of November 9, after midnight. Knowing his daughter’s history of struggling with mental health issues, he immediately went to check on her in her room.
“I found Kayla sitting by her bed with pill bottles, pills spilled on the ground,” he said. “She was rocking back and forth, just crying hysterics.”
“We got her a blanket. We made sure she had boots,” he said, before the EMS took her to Bluewater Health.
Jacklin told us that Fillion had struggled with her mental health since the age of 14, had a history of substance abuse, attempted suicide, and had been diagnosed as bipolar with borderline personality disorder. “In October, she was admitted to the psychiatric ward for approximately three weeks,” Jacklin said.
Kayla Fillion was a frequent visitor to Bluewater Health. “They knew her by name,” Jacklin said. “When she was needing assistance, she would call the ambulance. We have a stack of like 60 unpaid ambulance bills.”
Because she was so familiar to hospital staff, Jacklin believes she was not taken seriously when she came to the hospital that early morning. “I feel like my daughter was labeled.”
On the morning of November 9, Kayla Fillion was gone approximately two hours before she returned home on foot. Factoring in emergency room wait times and the 25 minute walk home, Jacklin said, “she was in there probably around 30 to 45 minutes being treated or whatever they call it. I don’t know how you can do that properly with a mental health issue in a half hour.”
He said that he was surprised that Fillion had not been admitted. “She started crying again about how the hospital just sent her on her way,” Jacklin said. “She wanted to be admitted, she didn’t feel safe. We assumed that the hospital said everything was okay and brought her home.” He said that she seemed a little better and that she claimed to have taken medication prescribed to her. Jacklin noted the police report regarding her hospital visit says “treat and release.”
Jacklin said that the rest of the family went about their regular routines when they woke in the morning, giving Kayla Fillion time to sleep in. At about 3:30 p.m. he went to check in on her and found her dead. “I’d never seen anything like it,” he said. “They should have kept her that night. This particular night they didn’t, they sent her home asking for help. They dismissed her problem and they sent her home and she died.”
Jacklin had recorded his daughter before she got in the ambulance that morning. “You can’t tell me that within an hour and a half she gets sent back home after being in that state without being admitted. It’s unbelievable what they did to her.”
So now Jacklin has organized protests calling for accountability from Bluewater Health and advocating for better mental health care. “Kayla came to me after she died, in a dream, and told me I needed to start this.”
Jacklin launched a Facebook page to keep people informed about the protests and a website www.kaylascorner2024.com, where people can share stories, find mental health support resources, and find information on reporting suspected medical negligence. As of writing, a petition on change.org demanding an inquiry into medical malpractice at Bluewater Health has 1,320 signatures.
In a statement to the Journal, Bluewater Health said that due to being bound by strict privacy laws they cannot share any information that could identify individuals or disclose specifics about particular situations. They said:
“Bluewater Health is aware of the situation and the concerns raised by the family. We extend our deepest condolences to them during this time of profound loss and grief. We take all concerns very seriously and review them with care and diligence. What we can confirm is that Bluewater Health’s staff and physicians are committed to providing best practice, quality care in a complex healthcare environment.”
At the time of the interview with the Journal, Jacklin said he had not had any meaningful communication from Bluewater Health, and that he had requested a meeting with President and CEO Paula Reaume-Zimmer.
Speaking of the staff at Bluewater he says “it’s clear to me that they’re desensitized, overworked, understaffed. Desensitization shouldn’t be a word involved with mental health.”
“What we’re trying to do is invoke change,” said Jacklin. As his grassroots movement continues to grow, he believes the public pressure from his protests, amplified by social media, will lead to some answers regarding his allegation that Kayla Fillion was sent home from Bluewater Health hospital the morning she died.
“I know this is going to be a long fight,” he said.
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