Weijian Fang, 30, died alone in his Monkstown Road flat at the end of May after his leg became infected. He has not had a family doctor since 2017. His friends hope that speaking publicly about it will spark change. “The more stories that are told, the more pressure there will be on the system to improve so that people don’t die from something that is completely treatable,” said Dean Barnes, who knew Fang for more than a decade. The canine’s body was found on May 24, 2022. Police and a friend went to his apartment after he didn’t show up for work at Little Sparo, a St. Louis restaurant. John’s downtown. Fang was born in China in 1991. As a young man, he came to Canada with his parents who settled in St. John’s. His mother died of ovarian cancer in 2015. After that, his family lost ownership of the restaurant they owned on Duckworth Street, The Bamboo Garden. Fang’s father returned to China. Barnes says he was too ill to return to Canada for his son’s remains. His ashes were retrieved by relatives living in the United States. “It’s heartbreaking. His grandparents wanted him and his parents to have a better life, so they came to Canada. His mother died in her forties of cancer and now he’s in his thirties,” said Barnes, a business data systems analyst. and consultant. Dean Barnes met Weijian Fang at the Bamboo Garden Restaurant, a business run by Weijian’s family, on Boxing Day 2010. (Mark Quinn/CBC) Barnes fought back tears when asked to describe what Fang was like. “He was the kindest soul you could ever hope to meet. He was kind and generous. From washing dishes to cooking in a restaurant. He sent money home to his grandparents. I never heard him complain. I didn’t even know about his medical condition,” he said. Fang lived with diabetes. Barnes said a medical examiner determined sepsis, the body’s response to infection that can lead to organ failure, was the cause of his death. He said that when Fang was found one of his legs was black from the knee down. The more stories are told the more pressure will be put on the system to improve so that 30 year olds don’t die from something that is completely treatable.- Dean Barnes Fang had been without a family doctor for five years, since his doctor retired. He was one of more than 125,000 people in Newfoundland and Labrador who the province’s Medical Association says do not have a family doctor. His friends firmly believe they would still have Fang if he had access to primary care. “Absolutely. He passed out at work. He had been taken to the hospital several times from his job and whatever happened or didn’t happen, now we have a 30-year-old man who is dead,” Barnes said. “In the restaurant business, if you don’t work, you don’t get paid. What was he supposed to do? Just camp out in an emergency ward and hope he gets seen?” Brenda Johnson was a longtime friend of Weijian’s. He says he often joked that she was his “mother from Newfoundland.” (Mark Quinn/CBC) Barnes says Fang’s death shows how “crazily broken” the province’s health care system is. He also says it’s not a new problem. He said he witnessed systemic health problems with the treatment his father received more than two decades ago. “Covid-19 is being used as an excuse, but COVID-19 didn’t create new problems. It made them worse,” Barnes said.
“He didn’t have the support he needed”
Brenda Johnson also met Fang and his parents more than a decade ago at their restaurant. She says their relationship grew stronger after Fang lost his mother. Johnson also has concerns about Fang’s inability to access primary care. It’s just such a waste and should never have been done.- Brenda Johnson “He was supposed to be on a waiting list because he went to the Health Sciences Center a few times by ambulance from work, but he was never assigned a doctor,” she said. “It’s such a waste and it should never have been done. He was really sick. The hospital should have known this and put him on a priority list to watch, but it didn’t and he died.” Johnson hopes that talking about Fang will lead people to push for a better health care system. “I wish people would care enough to speak up and I wish the people in power in the health care system would come together. You know, how many people have to die? He didn’t even start his life and this happened. This is just tragic ». Weijian Fang with some of his relatives. (Weijian Fang family) Johnson, a retired Bell Canada employee in her 60s, says the province’s aging population should have concerns about the current state of Newfoundland and Labrador’s health care system and where it will be in the future. “Honey, I’m there. You know, a few things happened to me and I left in an ambulance. A mild stroke and a few things, and it’s not great,” he said. The provincial Department of Health and Community Services responded to CBC News’ request for comment with a statement, calling the doctor shortage a priority for the government. “The Department sends its condolences to the family and friends of the man who died. However, for privacy reasons we are unable to speak about an individual case,” it said. “The Government understands the challenges associated with not having a primary care provider. We have created an Office of Recruitment and Retention … and additional staff have been recruited.” Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador
