An Indigenous family in Prince Rupert, B.C., is mourning the death of a beloved grandmother, family matriarch and residential school survivor after a fire forced her to flee her apartment.
Juanita Hill, 71, died after she fell in the hotel room she was staying in after a Christmas Day fire forced her and nearly 100 other residents to evacuate an apartment block on Sherbrooke Avenue.
While she was just minutes away from the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital when she fell a few days later, the emergency room was closed that day — which meant an ambulance had to drive over an hour to get her into the Ksyen Regional Hospital in Terrace, B.C.
Hill is survived by her husband, four children, six grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Her husband, Murray Hill, told CBC News that he is not blaming the health-care system for his wife's death.
Murray Hill says this is his favourite picture of his wife, who was with him for over 50 years. (Submitted by Murray Hill)Hill said Juanita had a major impact on her community and family.
"We just got to go on ... I have a big family here to help take care of them, and they can take care of me also," he told CBC News.
"Not just family, but friends too. She had really lots of friends. She had a big effect on all of us," he added.
Hill said Juanita suffered from pulmonary fibrosis, a condition that thickens the tissue in the lungs and can affect breathing to the point where she had to use a wheelchair.
Her condition deteriorated in the Ksyen Regional Hospital in Terrace, B.C., before she died.
Murray Hill, right, said his wife had suffered from pulmonary fibrosis for some time. (Submitted by Murray Hill)Murray and Juanita Hill were together for over 50 years. She is from the Williams Lake Band in Central B.C., and attended the Kamloops Indian Residential School. Murray is from the Gitxaala First Nation.
"She was very hospitable, especially with the kids and the grandkids," Murray remembered.
"And you know, it wasn't just here ... we lived in Williams Lake for eight years, and she had a very big effect on everyone there too."
On Christmas Eve, Hill said his family had a big dinner. But later that night, around 1:30 a.m. PT on Christmas Day, they awoke to the fire alarm.
He says he had to wheel his wife to the top of the stairwell and that he was grateful to an RCMP officer who eventually helped carry her down the stairs of the Sherbrooke Apartments.
The City of Prince Rupert says nearly 100 residents were displaced by an early morning fire on Christmas Day at the Sherbrooke Apartments. (Colville G. Elizabeth/Facebook)Eventually, they were given hotel accommodations as they waited to return to their home. It was there, on Dec. 27, that Juanita fell and hit her head in the bathtub.
While the family was minutes away from the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital, its emergency room was on diversion due to a lack of physicians. Paramedics had to rush her to Terrace, more than an hour away.
There, Hill says his wife's condition got worse in the intensive care unit, and the entire family sang to her and prayed for her.
"I really didn't want her to leave ... but seeing how much she was struggling, I just told her, 'Just go. I don't want you to struggle and hurt yourself anymore,'" Hill said through tears.
Hill says his wife received the best care she could have in Terrace and said a memorial for Juanita would be held on Friday.
Murray and Juanita Hill are seen with some of their family. She is survived by many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. (Submitted by Murray Hill)A spokesperson for Northern Health said the emergency department in Prince Rupert was closed from 2 p.m. to midnight on Dec. 27.
"Northern Health extends our sincere condolences to the family and friends of this individual, however for privacy reasons, we cannot comment on individual patient care matters," it wrote.
A spokesperson for the Health Ministry added that emergency departments only go on diversion as a last resort once other options were exhausted, and they were working to add more staff at ERs in B.C.