A Vernon man who underwent a double lung transplant has been ticketed for not wearing a COVID-19 mask in hospital..Ryan Bentson, 53, was arrested and ticketed at Vernon’s Jubilee Hospital as he claimed his face shield was enough protection..RCMP Const. Chris Terleski said the officers were called to the hospital about 2:45 p.m. on Sunday but the Bentson had left the facility. He called police at 6:40 p.m. to discuss the situation and was told if he returned to the hospital and didn’t war a mask, he would be fined..But Bentson did come back about 9:45 p.m. wearing a face mask. He recorded his interactions on a cellphone and posted it to social media..The video shows him telling the admitting clerk he has a medical exemption from wearing a mask after a double-lung transplant in 2011 and that his shield was enough protection. The clerk responds it’s the hospital’s policy for everyone to wear a mask..He alleged the security guards had thrown him to the ground in the afternoon incident..An RCMP officer is then seen walking towards Bentson and tells him to leave if he won’t abide by hospital rules..The volume goes silent as another staff member seems to be explaining the policy to him. The RCMP officer finally moves towards Betson, grabbing his cell phone, as the video ends..“When it became clear the individual was not going to abide by the requirements, the officer arrested the man and removed him from the property,” RCMP said in a statement, adding he was handcuffed, given a pair of tickets and driven home..“Our health-care professionals have a responsibility to ensure that regulations mandated by the provincial health order are followed in order to safeguard all patients and members of the public,” Terleski told the Abbotsford News..“Our emphasis has always been to encourage compliance of COVID-19 restrictions through education and awareness. However, when required we will take the reasonable and necessary enforcement action to support the Public Health Order and safeguard members of the public.”.Bentson was supposed to go back to the hospital on Monday for a breathing test but opted out..“I don’t feel safe going to the hospital anymore,” Bentson told the News..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.TWITTER: Twitter.com/nobby7694
