Juno News - June 29, 2023


Unvaxxed Albertan fights for her life

Topics
organ transplant fundraising
Mentioned
Sheila Annette Lewis Rachel Zoom Bang
Conservatives need to take a bold stand for parental rights Why Canada Should be Cherished – Not Cancelled ｜ Launch of the 1867 Project

Episode Stats


Length

18 minutes

Words per minute

150.35

Word count

2,775

Sentence count

224

Harmful content

Hate speech

1

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Rachel interviews Sheila Annette Lewis, an international citizen who is fighting to get her back on the organ donor list in Canada. She has been on the Alberta Appeal Court and the Supreme Court of Canada, but both have refused to hear her case. Now, she has found a potential donor in the United States, and is working to raise enough money to pay for her first round of testing.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.320 So I will fight as long as I can and do what I can to fight for myself and the rest of Canada,
00:00:11.080 for the other people that need these surgeries as well.
00:00:23.820 Hey everyone, welcome back to the Alberta Roundup.
00:00:26.660 I am joined by a very special guest today.
00:00:30.620 I have Sheila Annette Lewis with me on the program.
00:00:33.640 We have been following her story very closely on the show over the last couple of months
00:00:38.780 and I am very excited to have the opportunity to interview her.
00:00:42.300 And I know that you guys are going to be interested in hearing more about her case.
00:00:46.400 Sheila, thank you so much for joining me today.
00:00:48.980 Thank you for having me on, Rachel.
00:00:50.680 So Sheila, we know that your efforts to basically get back on the organ donor transplant list in Canada
00:00:58.040 have been stymied pretty much at every turn.
00:01:01.140 You obviously have taken this up to the Alberta Appeal Court
00:01:03.920 and then you even sought to have the Supreme Court of Canada hear your case.
00:01:07.620 We know now that they turned that down.
00:01:10.360 I have to say, were you surprised when you heard that they were not going to hear your case?
00:01:14.940 Did you expect that it would be taken up to the Supreme Court?
00:01:19.240 Yeah, I was.
00:01:20.700 I was really surprised.
00:01:22.780 And I was surprised that the Supreme Court acted on it so quickly as well.
00:01:31.120 I was expecting it to take a while for them to make a decision on my case.
00:01:38.500 And were you given any details as to why your case was rejected or just a flat,
00:01:45.300 no, we will not hear your case?
00:01:47.680 For the Supreme Court of Canada, it was just, it just come back that it was,
00:01:53.640 they did not want to hear the case.
00:01:55.520 It was denied.
00:01:56.780 And that was it.
00:01:58.080 We weren't given any more details.
00:02:00.740 They just denied to hear the case.
00:02:03.640 So since that happened, there's also been another very positive development in your story.
00:02:11.020 Now we have learned that a U.S. hospital is actually willing to give you the organ transplant that you need.
00:02:18.400 You said that it was a hospital in Texas.
00:02:20.540 I'm just wondering if you'd be willing to share some details with us about which hospital that is
00:02:25.380 and how you actually got in touch with them and were able to get on their transplant list
00:02:29.980 despite being an international citizen.
00:02:32.100 Well, we called different organizations in the United States.
00:02:39.000 They kind of helped in some of it.
00:02:42.140 We also did a lot of cold calls.
00:02:44.840 The people behind the scenes that are helping me, they did a lot of cold calls themselves.
00:02:49.560 And then we came across, this was on the list that was given to us by the United States
00:02:55.000 of some possible hospitals that might be willing to do it.
00:03:01.320 So when we contacted Texas, they said they didn't see any reason why not.
00:03:09.120 But we would have to, you know, work on it and figure out from then if I was even a possible candidate.
00:03:16.780 So that's what the stage where we're at now.
00:03:20.240 They've already told us how much it would cost for the testing to get done to see if I was still healthy enough,
00:03:27.040 my organs were healthy enough to even get on the donor list.
00:03:31.020 So I sent all the medical records down to them, and that's what they're reviewing now.
00:03:40.580 They also created a file for me, of course, at the hospital.
00:03:44.900 I also was speaking to a doctor yesterday on Zoom from the Texas hospital, and they have a board meeting on Thursdays.
00:03:58.540 So on Thursday tomorrow, they will present my case in front of the board, and we're going to go from there.
00:04:06.760 And depending on what the board says tomorrow, with the information that they have, depending on the next steps.
00:04:20.480 Okay, so it sounds like Thursday will be a pretty big day for you in terms of getting that answer.
00:04:25.440 Meanwhile, they're also reviewing your documents.
00:04:27.340 We know that currently you're in the process of fundraising $100,000 USD to get that first step of testing that you need.
00:04:34.260 When we spoke on the phone, you said you had received testing when you were in Canada,
00:04:38.640 but they stopped testing you about two years ago when you refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
00:04:44.900 We're looking at the fundraiser now.
00:04:46.720 It's at about $87,000 just over as of Wednesday morning when we're filming,
00:04:51.240 and it's been climbing pretty steadily over the past week from what I can tell.
00:04:54.980 So I feel fairly confident that you'll have that first $100,000 that you need for testing pretty soon.
00:04:59.900 Once you have that money, are you able to begin testing in the States right away,
00:05:05.080 or do they still have to kind of continue looking through your documents,
00:05:08.180 and is there going to be more of a wait period?
00:05:11.580 Well, we don't know that answer at all.
00:05:14.360 It all depends on what the board is going to say.
00:05:16.880 They could, like they told me, they could come back with the dates fairly quickly
00:05:20.900 because of the progression of my disease, of course.
00:05:25.400 So it all depends on what the board is going to say.
00:05:29.540 They are a smaller hospital than what we'd like because being a smaller hospital,
00:05:38.440 they do less transplants, of course.
00:05:42.200 So like he said, depending on what we're looking for and what we want,
00:05:48.220 if we went with a bigger hospital, we would have, you know,
00:05:53.560 they would have more transplants a year.
00:05:57.580 So there's a lot to take in to consider.
00:06:00.420 It's not just jump on the bandwagon on the first one.
00:06:04.220 So, but at least we're getting somewhere with it at least.
00:06:09.860 And they do give us positive reviews, of course.
00:06:13.080 So we just have to wait and see.
00:06:17.040 It's a waiting game, right?
00:06:18.840 For sure.
00:06:19.480 And you've just mentioned that you're waiting to hear from the hospital.
00:06:22.660 They could give you a date fairly quickly.
00:06:24.800 Does that mean that you feel fairly confident that they will approve your case?
00:06:29.100 I'm not going to feel comfortable with anything until I'm there.
00:06:32.820 When I'm there, I'm going to be confident.
00:06:34.760 But I feel really good.
00:06:36.040 I really do about this.
00:06:37.420 But the old saying goes, you know, nothing is hatched until you crack the egg.
00:06:45.880 So I don't want to count my chickens before they're hatched.
00:06:50.500 I've done that in Canada.
00:06:52.780 And look where it got me.
00:06:54.220 I was really pumped.
00:06:55.520 They put me on the transplant list, on the donor list, excuse me.
00:06:59.200 They put me on the donor list.
00:07:00.900 They said I was ready.
00:07:02.460 I had a very, very healthy body.
00:07:04.180 You know, and look where that got me.
00:07:08.420 And I was pumped to go.
00:07:09.720 I did all the physio for it.
00:07:12.400 I did everything they asked me to do, everything.
00:07:15.180 The only thing I didn't was the experimental vaccine.
00:07:20.220 So just because somebody tells you something doesn't mean it's actually going to happen, I guess.
00:07:27.080 Canada proved that, and which is sad because Canada is our country.
00:07:33.960 And who better to believe than our own doctors, our own governments?
00:07:44.720 When we talk about this sort of uphill battle and you not wanting to be certain of something before you're actually there,
00:07:52.620 obviously you have a very significant amount of money that you need to fundraise.
00:07:56.380 I mentioned that initial $100,000 for testing.
00:07:59.600 But afterwards, I believe it's another half a million that you need to fundraise for the actual transplant itself.
00:08:05.460 And that's, of course, in American dollars.
00:08:07.480 So a very, very significant amount of money in Canadian dollars.
00:08:11.120 It seems like people have been very supportive and very receptive to donating to your cause so far.
00:08:16.740 The cause are amazing.
00:08:18.020 Amazing.
00:08:18.420 Like they really are, Canadians are really, really, really coming through. 1.00
00:08:21.840 And we're also getting donations from the United States as well.
00:08:26.020 So it's amazing, the movement is.
00:08:30.620 I never, ever, ever dreamed we would even get to where we are today.
00:08:35.040 I really didn't.
00:08:37.780 Canadians are really, really coming through.
00:08:39.680 And it's, sometimes it's like it's powerful, it's overwhelming.
00:08:45.540 And I sit back sometimes and it really touches the heart.
00:08:52.520 It really does.
00:08:53.940 Because Canadians are very caring and giving.
00:08:59.280 And they're just overall great people.
00:09:06.700 And you can't thank them enough.
00:09:08.300 There's just no possible way you could ever thank them enough for what they're doing.
00:09:12.660 And my hope for this transplant, and my hope was to get a policy overturned.
00:09:25.860 And that's what was the purpose of the courts, was to overturn the policy.
00:09:31.440 So many more Canadians would be able to get the transplant that I hoped I would be able to get.
00:09:38.400 And it wasn't just about me, and it's still not about me.
00:09:42.540 It's about all Canadians.
00:09:44.180 And all Canadians are suffering the same way I am.
00:09:48.260 And we can't overlook that.
00:09:52.100 It's not just about one person, right?
00:09:55.620 But they're forcing a hand where they're making it just one person.
00:10:03.280 Because I'm not winning.
00:10:06.440 And that's the problem with the courts.
00:10:10.120 I'm not winning it.
00:10:11.340 The question is why?
00:10:13.640 And I have natural immunity in very high levels of it.
00:10:18.060 More so than most people, they say.
00:10:20.760 And to require still a booster, like they're saying.
00:10:25.440 Why am I still required to get a booster when I have natural immunity?
00:10:30.260 It doesn't make sense.
00:10:32.500 None of it makes sense.
00:10:34.960 Especially with all the data out.
00:10:37.360 You know, Rachel?
00:10:38.580 I mean, I'm sure I'm not the only person that knows everything that's going on with this vaccine.
00:10:45.040 It's too much information out now.
00:10:47.260 Way too much.
00:10:48.520 A lot of people are injured.
00:10:51.100 A lot of people have passed away.
00:10:52.720 A lot of families were affected.
00:10:55.340 How many families do they got to destroy before somebody steps up and stops us?
00:11:08.000 Canada is in a sad place right now.
00:11:10.400 Another question that I had about your case is that, you know, the organ that you actually need,
00:11:17.820 as well as the names of the doctors that you were working with here in Alberta,
00:11:21.620 as well as the hospital that you were working with, all of that is under a publication ban.
00:11:26.660 The court really sought to protect those doctors for the decision that they made in denying you this organ transplant.
00:11:32.500 Has that been difficult for you to process?
00:11:34.980 Has it been difficult to explain to people exactly what's going on when there's so much that news outlets can't cover?
00:11:41.980 Of course it is, because it's really sad.
00:11:44.720 I mean, it wasn't enough that they come back and they said they had a policy.
00:11:51.540 They didn't have a policy when they made this.
00:11:55.900 They sat around a table.
00:11:57.540 It was said right to me.
00:11:58.480 I have it on record.
00:12:00.480 They said, the doctor had said to me on the phone, on the Zoom, that we have to make a decision.
00:12:06.780 We have to sit down as a team and we have to go over whether we're going to ask or make people that need transplants,
00:12:16.200 a life-saving transplant, to get the vaccine.
00:12:19.280 So in a couple weeks after that, they got back to me and they said, we made a decision.
00:12:25.440 They made a decision.
00:12:26.740 They didn't have a policy.
00:12:28.240 So when I forced their hand and I asked them for the policy, a copy of it, they refused it.
00:12:34.440 Then I wrote them a letter in November and I said, there's not a policy.
00:12:40.540 It is recommended.
00:12:43.700 It's strongly recommended that I get the vaccine.
00:12:47.640 But it wasn't policy.
00:12:50.740 And that was in November of 2021.
00:12:53.840 So what happened?
00:12:55.940 Bang.
00:12:57.160 All of a sudden, there was a policy.
00:12:59.920 They come up with a policy.
00:13:02.420 But when they first told me they made the decision, it was in March.
00:13:06.120 But in November of the same year, they finally got a policy because I was asking to see a copy of it.
00:13:14.820 So it's sad that the courts put the gag order on me, which they wanted, the doctors wanted, and asked for,
00:13:22.100 because it was to silence me.
00:13:26.380 But look at it the other way.
00:13:28.240 If they were speaking the truth about everything, which I know now they weren't, through testimony and what was ignored in the courts,
00:13:42.040 it's really sad that they had to put a publication ban on me or a gag order, whatever we want to call it.
00:13:49.340 But if they were speaking the truth, what did they have to worry about?
00:13:52.680 Well, I have to say that their attempts to silence you certainly have not been successful.
00:14:00.620 That kind of brings me to my last question here.
00:14:02.560 Something that I've been so struck by in this story, and I know that has really resonated with my audience as well,
00:14:08.540 is your resilience, your ability to continue pushing through this and to fight for what you know is right,
00:14:15.760 despite really being up against all odds.
00:14:18.460 Maybe you could speak to that a little bit.
00:14:20.020 Have you found this difficult?
00:14:21.580 Have you wanted to really just give up at any points?
00:14:24.700 And what has kept you pushing through?
00:14:28.660 There's lots of times.
00:14:30.920 There really is.
00:14:31.880 There's lots of times that, you know, I'm sitting here, and I'm thinking, and it's quiet, and I'm by myself.
00:14:38.180 You know, it's late at night, and I can't sleep for one reason or another.
00:14:45.340 And, yeah, I think about just, that's it.
00:14:48.740 Nothing's enough.
00:14:50.320 But what's that going to do?
00:14:52.860 It's not going to get me nowhere, and it's not going to get anybody else anywhere.
00:14:56.480 But at the same time, the truth needs to come out.
00:14:59.960 And if I just stop at all, which they want me to, these doctors, they want me to go away.
00:15:08.980 Like they used to ask me in the Zoom calls at the end, they would say when they called,
00:15:14.000 oh, you're still hanging in, I see, because I answered the phone.
00:15:18.560 It's like, yeah, I'm still hanging in.
00:15:20.400 But they want me to go away.
00:15:22.740 They want to silence me.
00:15:24.280 And, you know, it ain't going to happen.
00:15:28.100 So I will fight as long as I can and do what I can to fight for myself and the rest of Canada,
00:15:38.920 for the other people that need these surgeries as well.
00:15:42.140 But, yes, there's times it gets tough, like really tough, especially when it's hard to breathe.
00:15:51.340 And there's a lot of times when I exert myself, when I get up to do something, even with the third machine.
00:16:01.560 It's tough.
00:16:04.960 It's tough to keep going sometimes.
00:16:08.060 But I have to.
00:16:09.780 I have to keep fighting.
00:16:12.740 I never was one to give up before, so I ain't going to start now.
00:16:17.240 Well, Sheila, thank you so much for coming on today and sharing a little bit of your story and your journey with us.
00:16:25.780 I know that me and my viewers, we are behind you 100%.
00:16:28.660 And I know a lot of people were really excited to be able to support your fundraiser.
00:16:32.980 And we will continue to follow your story with interest.
00:16:36.180 And you'll just be in our prayers and we are rooting for you 100%.
00:16:39.600 So thank you so much for coming on.
00:16:40.820 Do you have the fundraiser?
00:16:42.040 Do you have the fundraiser website?
00:16:44.500 Yes, we have the fundraiser website and it's been linked in my previous shows and we'll link it in this episode below as well.
00:16:51.940 Okay, great.
00:16:52.980 Okay, then, Rachel, thank you very much for having me on your show today.
00:16:56.380 I appreciate it.
00:16:57.760 And thank you to everyone that is helping with this movement and sending prayers and, you know, have support for me and inboxing me.
00:17:08.300 I get a lot of them and I try to, I try to do as many as I can every day, but, but thank you for your support, Rachel.
00:17:18.420 You're most welcome.
00:17:19.640 Okay, we'll chat with you soon.
00:17:21.200 Okay, chat soon.
00:17:22.420 Take care.
00:17:23.580 Okay, guys, thank you so much for joining me on this special episode of the Alberta Roundup.
00:17:27.400 It was so touching to hear from Ms. Lewis and to hear a little bit about her story and hopefully we can have her on again for another positive update in a couple weeks or months.
00:17:36.640 For those of you who want to go find the GoFundMe page right now, you can find that at givesengo.com slash g-a-m-m-5.
00:17:45.080 Again, that's givesengo.com slash g-a-m-m-5.
00:17:49.180 Okay, guys, I will see you on Saturday for our usual episode of the Alberta Roundup.
00:17:53.360 Enjoy the rest of your week.
00:17:57.400 Thank you.