'I don't hate you, I'm just mad,' Yosif Al-Hasnawi's mom tells paramedics during sentencing
CBC
Amal Alzurufi sat still in a Hamilton courtroom while the Crown read her victim impact statement on Monday, telling the judge about how Alzurufi almost died giving birth to her son Yosif Al-Hasnawi back in 1998.
He barely survived then, too.
"Thankfully, we were in the care of the most trusted people ... doctors, nurses and paramedics," read Linda Shin, one of two Crown prosecutors.
Some 23 years after giving birth, and four years after Al-Hasnawi was shot and killed, Alzurufi sat across from 55-year-old Steven Snively and 32-year-old Christopher Marchant, the two paramedics found guilty in June of failing to provide the necessaries of life to her 19-year-old son in 2017.
They both wore dark suits and were almost motionless during the first day of sentencing.
It's a landmark case in Canada, being the first time paramedics have been found guilty for a part in someone's death as a result of their actions while working. It may change how emergency responders do their job moving forward.
Al-Hasnawi was shot outside of the Al-Mustafa Islamic Centre after trying to intervene as two people confronted an older man.
Snively and Marchant, who attended the scene, testified in their trial they thought a BB gun pellet hit Al-Hasnawi, but it was actually a .22-calibre handgun.
Ontario Superior Court judge Harrison Arrell found they made numerous other mistakes including not leaving the scene fast enough, going to the wrong hospital, not following protocol for penetrating wounds and lifting him dangerously.
Al-Hasnawi died an hour after being shot because he was bleeding internally.
While the shooter was acquitted of second-degree murder in a decision now under appeal, the two paramedics are awaiting their sentencing.
"I don't hate you, I'm just mad … he didn't deserve to die like this," read Alzurufi's statement.
"Nothing is more painful than losing a child, it feels like someone has ripped your heart out of your chest."
On Monday, Arrell heard other statements from Al-Hasnawi's brother, Ahmed, and father, Majed. They're both in Iraq observing Al-Hasnawi's burial site.
This First Person column is the experience of Shannon Flaman, who lives in Red Deer, Alta. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.
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