Supporting Yosif's Family

On December 2nd, 2017, the life of 19 year old Yosif Al Hasnawi was unjustly taken.


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/al-hasnawi-paramaedics-sentencing-defence-1.6225452 

 

Yosif was killed whilst trying to intervene during an armed robbery. He attempted to protect an older man being accosted by two suspects & was himself shot at close range by one of them. When paramedics arrived at the scene, they, along with one other police officer did not believe Yosif when he said he had been shot.

 

They referred to him as “misbehaving”, “lying,” being “dramatic”, and in need of “psychiatric help”. They continuously denied that he was telling the truth that he had been shot and refused to treat the very real bullet wound in his abdomen. These paramedics then forced Yosif to walk into the ambulance with a bullet wound in his stomach -- his younger brother had to carry him as he was not able to stand himself-- and spent 38 minutes getting him to a hospital on the other side of town, rather than taking him to a trauma centre nearby that was best fit to treat his bullet wound. Yosif died shortly after arrival from his injuries because he was not believed or listened to.

 

You can read more about the circumstances here.

 

Yosif lost his life not only because of the bullet lodged in his body, but as a result of racist systemic failures at the hands of police & the Canadian health care system.

 

How You Can Help

 

Yosif was the eldest brother to 4 younger and loving siblings and an amazing mother. His loss will never ever be forgotten by his family, his friends or his community. The pain his loved ones bear, they will bear forever.

 

This campaign is being started in his memory to support the loved ones that survive him. Currently Yosif's mother, Amal Al-Zurufi (the account holder for this campaign) supports her 4 surviving children on only 860 dollars a month she receives from ODSP (see images below). She is now in tremendous amounts of credit card debt and struggling to provide meals for herself and her children. Amal also suffers from bells palsy, and needs botox injections that cost up to 1300 dollars that help manage the symptoms of her disability.

 

Unable to work due to her disability, and still recovering from the greatest tragedy of her life, the loss of her loving eldest son, Amal needs our help to help her get back on her feet.

 

Amal is requesting any small donation whether it's 10 dollars or 1 dollar to help her manage some of her monthly payments, plus the interest she owes on her various credit cards, and potentially return to Iraq where Yosif is buried so she can visit him and pray by his grave.

 

For more questions please contact Amal directly at [email redacted]. Please keep messages respectful and to the point.

 

This fundraiser was originally posted on launchgood, where it collected 3600/24000 CAD. It is being reposted to collect enough funds to tide over Amal and her family until she receives her settlement funds from an ongoing lawsuit against the paramedics involved in Yosif's case.