September 23, 2021

I got into a pretty bad accident on my bike today.

I hit a pothole and flew over my handlebars and skidded along the road on my head. 

My eyebrow is split open and I have a concussion, and earlier I could barely walk or understand what was going on.

Thank god I was wearing my helmet.

I’ve been in the ER for eight hours, and here are some things I’ve seen:

A man in a wheelchair pleading towards the nurses' station, saying 
“Please nurse, my chest hurts. 
Please help me, nurse”
and nobody helping him right now, 
because they can’t

they have no beds for him.

A grandma on her phone,
blind, also in a wheelchair 
telling her son that she’s been here since 8:30 AM

(st was 5 PM when she made that call.)

A young woman curled in a chair
feet tucked up under her
she asks the nurse for a blanket and the nurse tells her
they don’t give them out here
the girl starts crying

“I’ve been here since 2:30 PM” she wails

(she asked for a blanket around 6 PM.)

A man lying on the ground
on the “Covid symptom side” of the room
under a blanket, shaking
he was here when I got here at 4 PM

It’s 12:25 AM now.

All the while nurses 
and doctors 
and EMTs 
and other hospital staff
have been running around 
back and forth
stressed and tired 
their eyes weary above their masks
doing their best to keep up

but it’s not enough.

There isn’t enough funding 
not enough staff 
not enough beds
to help everyone.

The hospital up the road from my house used to have an ER, 
used to take some off the heat off HSC
but the Conservative government closed it a few years ago
and this scene is what we’re left with.

This is what happens when we defund health care.

This is what happens when we vote for Conservatives.

This is what happens when we look at people as dollars and cents
and not human beings who get sick
and get hurt
and need care.

And this is just one night when I happen to be here 
for 8+ hours 
to tell you about what I’m seeing.

Imagine what it’s like being here 
every night, 
trying to give all these people
timely, high-quality care
and being unable to 
because the health care system you’re a part of 
is stretching you 
and everyone here
to the limit

every day.

Please 
support our nurses
support health care workers
and never
ever

vote Conservative.

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I was finally seen after 9.5/10 hours of waiting in the ER. A huge THANK YOU to the staff at HSC who took care of me and everyone else who was there yesterday. You're heroes and you deserve better than this broken, gutted, and under-funded system you're forced to operate within. I see you, and I appreciate you.