'Oh, my God, I can't breathe' - Woman dies after being arrested for 'faking' illness

'...falling down and laying down, that's not going to stop you from going to jail.'

Fifty-seven-year-old Barbara Dawson turned to Calhoun Liberty Hospital in Blountstown, Florida for help when she suffered impaired breathing. Rather than receiving medical treatment that could have saved her life, she was accused of faking an illness and was arrested when she refused to leave the hospital.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Dawson, who weighed 270 pounds, was told she was discharged and must therefore vacate the premises, but when she refused the police were called. When an unnamed officer arrived at the hospital, he attempted to persuade her to leave.

Dawson refused to leave her hospital room, prompting the officer to tell Dawson's aunt, Angela Donar, "she can walk out peacefully or be arrested."

Dawson refused to try a different hospital and was then arrested for disorderly conduct and trespassing. 

Her oxygen hose was disconnected and the officer walked her to his police car, which had a dashcam that recorded the scene and caught the dying woman's cries of "I can't breathe" and "Oh, my God" as the officer attempted to force her into his vehicle.

She fell outside the car and cut her feet and knees. The officer can then be heard telling Dawson, "falling down and laying down, that's not going to stop you from going to jail. If I have to get help to get you in this car ... You are only making things worse on you."

Dawson leaned against the police cruiser for eighteen minutes as nurses and the officer tried to get her into his vehicle. The nurses checked her pulse and claimed she was fine. It was not until a doctor checked on her that she was readmitted. 

"Get her on the stretcher. This is totally different from what I discharged her for," the doctor could be heard saying.

As she was wheeled back into the hospital, the officer's voice is heard saying she "was being non-compliant by not trying to get in my car and faking it."

Unfortunately for Dawson, it was discovered she had a blood clot in her lung as a result of being obese and died two hours after being readmitted.

One of the Dawson's family's attorneys, Benjamin Crump, asked, "Why didn't she get the benefit of the doubt from the hospital and police department? Not only that but the benefit of humanity?"

Another of the Dawson's attorneys, Darryl Parks, said, "We have heard that [sic] time and time again how everyone was acting with due speed to assist her. Now that we have that tape we know that is not true. There was not deliberate speed and who was assessing her at the side of the car was inconsistent."

Ruth Attaway, the Calhoun Liberty Hospital CEO, emailed a statement that they received a copy of the dashcam footage and are reviewing it. She reiterated that the hospital continues to cooperate with state investigations and has started the process of creating a community task force with local leaders for a hospital practice review.

Steve Arthur and Mallory Deason, of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement spokesman and Agency for Health Care Administration communications director respectively, reported their investigations were ongoing, while Jackie Schutz, communications director for Governor Rick Scott, stated their office remained in communication with NAACP, FDLE and AHCA.

Dawson's cousin, Martha Smith Dickson, spoke on behalf of the Dawson family to say, "The police is [sic] supposed to protect and serve. The hospital is supposed to save lives. When Barbara went to the hospital she was denied all of those rights.

"So her family is saying today we cannot bring her back and therefore we want justice for Barbara so that this will not happen to anyone else."

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