Winnipegger suffering heart attack uses payphone to call for help

A Winnipeg man who says he endured delays getting a home phone line installed said he had to walk to a payphone to call for help after having a heart attack.

Abd Miri Al Taai said he contacted Primus Canada on Feb. 2 to purchase internet and home service. He said he was told that someone would come to his South Osborne apartment to install both services within seven to 10 days.

But around February 19 or 20, with no service yet, he called Primus again to express frustration. He was told service was set to begin by the next day, and his service actually did begin that day.

About two weeks later, and fearing there was a language barrier, the Iraqi immigrant asked his friend to phone Primus on his behalf.

"[He] phone him he said, 'Yeah, the account cancelled,'" Al Taai said in disbelief, adding that he couldn't understand how that was possible given his internet service was still working.

According to Al Taai, Primus told him it would reopen the account if he paid $80. He did that on March 10.

Three days later, Al Taai wasn't feeling well. He ended up in hospital with a heart attack.

Al Taai said he had knocked on neighbours' doors for help, but no one answered. So he walked to the 7-Eleven on Osborne Street to call his friend from the payphone.

"I said … 'I have so much pain, can you send me taxi?'" Al Taai recalled, adding he didn't want to call an ambulance because he couldn't afford the $500 ambulance fee.

Laura Ramsay of Primus said the company cancelled his service only because he explicitly requested it. Once he paid his bill and asked for service to resume, it put into motion a reconnection. Primus subsequently said the customer didn’t ask for that reconnection until March 18, after his heart attack.

"I mean it is a distressing situation obviously and we, you know, our heart goes out to him. I can just tell you that at that point in time, he was not a customer of Primus," said the Primus spokesperson.

As for Al Taai, he said his friend has given him a cellphone to use in emergencies while he waits for his phone and internet to be connected.