Their grandfather was wheeled in on a luggage cart, then a stranger stepped in to buy him a wheelchair
CBC
When her grandfather was wheeled to his room in Montreal's Ullivik centre on a luggage cart, Julia St-Aubin looked on in shock.
She had just returned from the hospital, accompanying her grandfather who travels to Montreal every three weeks for cancer treatment.
Jean-Guy St-Aubin, has lived Kangiqsualujjuaq, Que., a community located 1,500 kilometres north of Montreal, for over 40 years. He was staying at the health-care centre that's intended to serve as a safe space for the hundreds of patients who fly south for treatment.
But back in March, when St-Aubin returned to the centre, there were no wheelchairs left.
When the elder, who was tired and in pain after treatment, saw that the wheelchair they had reserved was taken, his granddaughter says he asked for a luggage cart.
"I thought he was going to lean on the luggage trolley and push and slowly walk up to his room," said Julia St-Aubin.
"I was shocked when he climbed up the luggage trolley. I was so shocked that I took a picture."
The driver who transported them back from the hospital helped the 76-year-old onto the trolley as St-Aubin held onto her grandfather's arm.
They pushed him through Ullivik's reception and up to his room. She describes it as an awful, dehumanizing experience.
"It was a big scene inside. [It] was not a fun experience for everyone including the employees because it's not their fault that there's a lack of wheelchairs. It's the management that doesn't take it seriously," said St-Aubin.
"My grandfather is a very proud man. And I've always looked at him as a strong, independent, stubborn grandfather. But seeing him in that state really shocked me. It was raw and it felt vulnerable … I think it was a big shock to everyone to see our elder unable to walk, on top of a luggage trolley."
Days after the incident, which was first reported by Nunatsiaq News, St-Aubin and her sister Brenda, filed a complaint with the facility's commissioner and posted the photos of the incident to Facebook where there was an outpouring of support.
Among the people who shared their post was Samantha Poirier, who then helped raise money to buy Jean-Guy a wheelchair. St-Aubin said Poirier's actions inspired her and her sister to do more.
Brenda St-Aubin, Julia's sister, says she was horrified when she heard about what had happened to their grandfather.
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