Friends of a Kelowna, B.C., man are reeling over the treatment they say he received.
“I just kind of feel like he was dumped like garbage,” said Randy Millis.
Cory Hyde was living at Step Place, a 60-unit transitional housing development that supports people experiencing homelessness, when he became ill.
Millis says that Hyde was put in an ambulance with an eviction notice.
“The way it’s been handled — you know, ‘Here’s an ambulance. We’re packing up your stuff. Here’s a letter, don’t come back.’ I am just flabbergasted,” said Millis.
Now, he is at Kelowna General Hospital, where his friends say he is being treated for serious liver disease.
“The doctors here said that [Hyde] was severely malnourished and in end of life, liver failure, and [another] doctor said that she does not see a future,” said Campbell.
Campbell and Millis say that Hyde became ill in June.
“He was getting skinnier and his mobility was getting worse, you know. I mean, he used to go down and visit with friends downtown, and he couldn’t even walk, you know, a few blocks to do that anymore,” said Millis.
The organization that runs the temporary housing facility, in a statement, says, “The STEP Place program is not an assisted living facility, and we are not a health care provider. STEP Place offers short-term transitional housing paired with programs aimed to assist people in obtaining their long-term housing and employment goals.”
Millis says his friend was involved in a biohazard-related incident that violated his housing agreement.
“Why did it get to the state where he was, you know, unable to get up and go to the bathroom, unable to go up and take meals. Should there not have been some intervention sooner, to say, ‘Hey, we need to get this guy into more hands-on care,’, said Millis.
Now, the pair are making sure Hyde is comfortable in what they suspect are his last days.
Campbell vowed not to leave his side, saying, “No one should die alone.”