Not again! A woman is assaulted by security guards at a Toronto hospital for… breaching mask etiquette?!

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Do you recall the tragic case of Stephanie Warriner?

In 2020, Stephanie was a patient at Toronto General Hospital. The 43-year-old mother of five suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lived with bipolar disorder. But Stephanie’s stay at Toronto General turned into a death sentence for her after she had an altercation with a pair of security guards.

They confronted Stephanie for not wearing her mask properly! As the situation escalated, the security video shows Stephanie struggling to breathe. But instead of getting a doctor, the guards pushed Stephanie against the wall, then pushed her to the ground, and then they restrained her. Fast-forward 16 days later and Stephanie was dead.

And tragically, everyone involved with this grotesque incident got off scot-free. (Hope abounds for justice, at least via a civil lawsuit: recently Stephanie’s sister, Denise Warriner-Smith, filed a $16 million lawsuit against University Health Network and those security guards she believes were responsible for her sister’s death.)

But just in case you thought this was a one-off, consider the story of Yuen-Ping Leung (she goes by the nickname “YP”).

Earlier this month, YP visited Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital with her husband to see her mother-in-law who was recovering from spinal surgery.

YP, who has an allergic reaction to cloth masks, wore a face shield to comply with Sunnybrook’s COVID-19 policy. But she forgot to wear her face shield when she visited a food service outlet in the hospital. A COVID-Karen raised a fuss, security was called, and YP says she was taken down “George Floyd style” and handcuffed. She was then charged by Toronto police for trespassing! It was equal parts surreal and shocking.

Thankfully, unlike Stephanie Warriner, YP survived her encounter with the security guards, although she did suffer some nasty cuts and bruises.

Check out our interview with YP – it’s astonishing for all the wrong reasons.

And moving forward, our healthcare hope is this: hospital security guards must stop physically assaulting people! After all, folks tend to go to a hospital to get better or visit sick loved ones – not to get manhandled.