‘What are they hiding?’: Okanagan mom denied son’s medical records after his suicide

Angelina Stamper listens to the voicemail her son left her almost every day.

“Hey Mom, happy birthday, just calling again. Give me a call back.”

The message was recorded on Oct. 17, 2024. Six weeks later, her 28-year-old son, Sheldon Stamper, took his own life.

Now, more than a year after his death, the Osoyoos, B.C., mother says she is still searching for answers about what happened during his time in psychiatric care, and why she cannot access his medical records.

“I just want to know what happened, I just want to know why it happened,” said Stamper.

Stamper says her son had been struggling with his mental health and had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. In September 2024, after what she describes as his third suicide attempt that year, Sheldon was admitted under involuntary care to the psychiatric ward at Chilliwack General Hospital.

Despite his history and diagnosis, Angelina believes the care he received was inadequate.

“Days and days without someone coming in,” she said. “He would ask the doctors to change his prescriptions, ask to just talk to someone, they would not come to see him for days.”

Stamper says she was told by hospital staff that her son was last seen in his bed at 8 a.m. on Nov. 29, 2024. At approximately 9:15 a.m., he was found dead in a bathroom. During that time, she says, he was unaccounted for.

“They went to find him for his medication and couldn’t find him. He wasn’t in his bed anymore. They knocked on the bathroom door. Nobody answered,” she said.

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In the months following his death, Stamper says she has repeatedly asked for access to her son’s medical records in an effort to understand what led up to that morning. She says Fraser Health denied her request, stating that access was being refused because it was for her own personal reasons ‘rather than acting on behalf of the deceased.’

“What are they hiding? Why can’t I see what my son was on, what medications, what was following up to his death? I can’t see any of that. They won’t give me any information on that,” she said.

In a statement, Fraser Health told Global News it has been in ongoing communication with the family, as well as with the staff and medical teams involved in Sheldon’s care. But Stamper disputes that characterization, saying the health authority only responded to her again last week.

Stamper says she remains determined to find out more about what happened in the final hours of his life.

 

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