EX-CFLER failed by system, fears mom
Marcella Davis hopes she is doing the right thing by publicly pleading with officials in charge of Saskatchewan’s mental health system to help her son, EX-CFL player Jordan Matechuk.
She is concerned the 32-year-old is falling through the cracks.
On Friday, she drove more than three hours from Yorkton, where Matechuk was raised, to Saskatoon for one of Matechuk’s court appearances. He had been in custody for 51 days.
Matechuk, who has lived with mental illness since his early 20s, is in custody at the Regional Psychiatric Centre, where Davis has been assured he will get the treatment he needs. She’s unsure what will happen once he’s out of the system.
He moved to Saskatoon in May to take a job in construction, but his health declined and a series of events culminated in an assault charge on June 12, she said.
“There are so many people that are struggling with mental health that aren’t getting the proper care, and it’s ending up being the plague of the 21st century,” Davis said.
“Everybody knows somebody who has ended their life or who is falling between the cracks or homeless, and mental health is the No. 1 factor. And I don’t want my son to be one of them any longer.”
When Matechuk moved to Saskatoon, he seemed to have his paranoia under control, Davis said. She didn’t interfere, wanting him to have a chance to make a new life, four years after his retirement from pro football. In the first week of June, he lost his construction job. Soon after, he was told to leave his rented basement suite.
On June 6, city police saw a man weaving in and out of traffic downtown on his bicycle, yelling at passersby. A police news release said when officers approached the man, he became agitated and ran back into traffic. Police said they used their Tasers after he tried to engage them in a physical confrontation. The incident is under review in accordance with police policy.
His mother says that man was Matechuk. He was taken to a hospital and later admitted to the Dube Centre, which offers in-patient mental health care.
In response to questions from Postmedia, Saskatchewan Health Authority spokeswoman Amanda Purcell sent a prepared statement noting the health authority can’t comment on the specifics of individual patient cases. The SHA follows the Saskatchewan Mental Health Services Act, which has guidelines for voluntary and involuntary processes, Purcell wrote.
“The involuntary process is only used when it is deemed that a patient has the potential to harm themselves or others, or when the patient is likely to suffer serious deterioration.”
The process requires an examination and assessment by two qualified health care providers who then make the recommendation to involuntarily admit the patient for their own protection and safety.
Matechuk was discharged from the Dube Centre after four days, his mother said, adding that she was told her son had not consented to medication or assessments.
Davis said her understanding is that the June 12 assault charge is related to an incident between Matechuk and his landlord. She described the assault as a poke to the chest and said Matechuk’s landlord reported it to the police out of concern that Matechuk would not get help or have a place to stay after his eviction.
“It seems to be backfiring,” she said.
The landlord did not respond to a request for comment.
Matechuk was initially held at the provincial jail, and on June 21 a provincial court judge ordered him to undergo a 30-day psychiatric assessment at North Battleford’s Saskatchewan Hospital. Because no beds were available, he remained at the jail until July 16.
Davis said she was under the impression he would be at the hospital for 30 days and would get help. On Friday, a Saskatoon provincial court judge ordered another 30day assessment, this time at RPC, a federal institution.
Ministry of Justice spokesman Noel Busse said all remanded inmates and sentenced offenders are given a general health and mental health assessment upon admission, unless they refuse. If they are on medication when they arrive, a doctor or psychiatrist at the remand facility determines if they will continue the medication or get a new prescription. In the case of a court-ordered assessment, if Saskatchewan Hospital is unable to complete the assessment, it may transfer the person to the RPC.
Busse said new mental health beds will be added at North Battleford later this year. “However, it must be noted that the criminal justice system is not and should not be seen as an alternative to the health care system,” Busse wrote in a prepared statement.
Matechuk’s career in the CFL took him to three teams in five seasons and a training camp tryout with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2013. During his playing career, he also sought treatment for mental illness.
In the off-season, he made Winnipeg his home. He was involved with the Canadian Mental Health Association and the Manitoba Mood Disorders Association.
In 2011, he was arrested at the U.S. border on his way to training camp carrying marijuana and steroids. He pleaded guilty to possession charges and served 60 days.
“He spoke loudly about how his mental health played a huge role in this,” Davis said.
He made an on-field comeback with the B.C. Lions in 2013, but an injury forced him to retire at 28 the next season. Surgery to amputate a badly dislocated middle finger and reconstruct his ring finger ended his career.
Davis said when he returned to Yorkton to live with her and her husband, Matechuk sank into a deep depression, sought help, saw a psychiatrist in Saskatoon regularly and started to get better. He worked, went to the gym and became a personal trainer.
But a definitive mental health diagnosis seems to be elusive.
Two years ago, Matechuk underwent tests in Saskatoon. The sixpage assessment report concludes with a doctor suggesting Matechuk undergo an MRI to rule out frontal brain changes. The test was never ordered, however. Davis believes the concussions Matechuk sustained playing football are a factor in his current health.
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, is a rare condition associated with repeated brain trauma. According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms are believed to include behavioural and emotional problems. A definite diagnosis is only made at the time of an autopsy.
Since June, Davis has been contacting provincial ministers. They showed compassion, which she appreciates, but compassion is not the answer, she said.
“Meanwhile, my son is very unstable and ill and he doesn’t even realize it himself, because that’s the nature of the illness. He needs intense treatment with a neurologist, including an MRI to better be able to start a program that will help him lead a normal life. After all, he’s received several concussions during his career.”
There are so many people that are struggling with mental health that aren’t getting the proper care.