Family of 19-year-old LTC worker Yassin Dabeh distraught over not being able to attend his funeral after all testing positive for COVID-19,
The timeline leading up to 19year-old Yassin Dabeh’s death was swift, involving a few backand-forth visits to the hospital for oxygen, but no admission.
Yassin was a contract cleaner at the Middlesex Terrace Limited long-term-care home in Delaware, Ont., just west of London. According to his family, he contracted COVID-19 in the second week of January and died in his sleep a few days later. Both his parents, as well as his eight siblings, have been infected with the virus.
Yassin’s father, Ahmad Dabeh, said his son was never fully admitted to the hospital.
“He did make some visits to the hospital complaining of chest pain and they tried to give him some oxygen, but he wasn’t admitted to the hospital,” Ahmad said, speaking to the media Tuesday through translator Tamara El Sayed. “So they would just try to treat him as best as they could while he was there for a few hours in the day and then send him home.”
Ahmad said that he believed health-care professionals did all they could.
“We’re happy about how they handled it, they did the best they could and at the end of the day everything takes place at the will of God, and God decided whether he lives or not. I don’t believe they failed my son.”
Ahmad and his wife were unable to attend their son’s funeral due to having COVID-19, which has left them even more distraught. His wife has been in and out of the hospital three times since her diagnosis.
On top of having to mourn Yassin’s death and cope with the family’s infections, Ahmad said his family is also having to deal with egregious rumours circulating online about Yassin allegedly using drugs and dying by suicide.
Ahmad said the family received a blood test after the pronouncing of Yassin’s death in which it was confirmed by a coroner that the cause was COVID-19.
“The rumours on social media are painful,” Ahmad said.
“How can people live with their conscience knowing that they’re spreading false rumours of somebody who has passed away. I wish to mourn in peace without any false allegations. (The people making accusations) were not there while he struggled for his life against COVID-19.”
Dr. Alex Summers, Middlesex-London Health Unit’s associate medical officer of health, told the Star’s Kenyon Wallace on Sunday he couldn’t confirm Yassin’s identity, but only that a male between 10 and 19 who worked at a long-term-care home had died after testing positive for the virus.
According to the MiddlesexLondon Health Unit, an outbreak was declared at the Middlesex Terrace home on Dec. 23 and remains “active.” There are 12 confirmed cases among residents and 28 among staff. Thirteen residents have died of COVID-19.
Mary Raithby, CEO of APANS Health Services, which owns the network of homes to which Middlesex Terrance belongs, told the Star: “We extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Yassin.”
Ahmad said his family came from Syria in 2016 for a better life and expressed how grateful he and his family are to Canada and the Canadian government.
Yassin is remembered by his family for the joy he brought into their lives.
“He was just very outgoing. He loved gatherings and bringing people together,” Ahmad said. “He had a very loving personality. He just wanted to have a successful career in Canada and have a good education. He was a very good kid, very hardworking, had a whole bright future ahead of him.”