The Story of Robert Charles Green
As told to us by his sister, Teresa MacKenzie

Robert was born in Kingston, Ontario on December 23, 1965 and moved to British Columbia in 1966. He died on August 15, 2001 in Abbotsford, British Columbia.

His life was a tragic one. He was born to parents that were drug addicts and ex-convicts. Our mother tried very hard to make a normal life for us, but kept on marrying the same type of man as our father. The environment created a very angry young man, that eventually turned to crime and drugs.

Bobby was a very intelligent young man and did very well in sports, art, school, swimming and anything else he attempted. Around age 19 he lost his way and started his life of drugs. He started with cigarettes, alcohol and hallucinogens, but soon he was shooting heroin into his veins. Soon after, came jail time. Drugs were readily available in jail as well.

He met a young woman whom he went to school with and they went together for a few years and had a child, a son named Kyle. Lori couldn't tolerate the behaviour that a drug addict displays and sent him on his way.

For years he was in and out of jail. Always the loved son and brother to his family, we enabled his addiction and behaviour. After some years, it was too dangerous for the family to continue to have him around, and he became homeless when he wasn't in jail. He picked up women and went home with anybody.

In 1994, Bobby contracted HIV. Due to his drug use and lifestyle, he didn't take the proper measures to live a healthy life. Bobby became ill while in jail. He was put in the hole for 23 hours a day "for his own protection", knocked out of his wheel chair by a guard, ridiculed by fellow inmates and deprived of medication.

He was very scared and lonely. You would think he would be scared of jail, but not Bobby, he was afraid of the disease. There were/are no resources in the jail system to help inmates in this situation.

Bobby pleaded to be released to palliative care or hospital to die in dignity. He got his wish, but was shackled to a hospital bed with two armed guards outside his room in the hospital. He was deprived of cigarettes in the hospital due to the no smoking policy in the prisons.

Through sheer determination on our mother's part, he was unshackled and allowed to have cigarettes.

Finally, Bobby was moved to Burnaby General Hospital in his own custody. No guards, no shackles, just a hospital room where visitors had to go in with masks, gowns and gloves on. that is where I last saw my brother alive. I happened to be in town on vacation and brought my 2 year old daughter and my husband to visit with my brother. My mother was also there and his best friend happened to show up as well. It was a nice visit.

During the night, they moved my brother to MSA Hospital in Abbotsford, which is where the court documents said he must be. We were called to the hospital at six AM as he was having trouble breathing. On our way out the door, the phone rang and the nurse told me she had bad news. We were only moments away. Why couldn't we have just left a little sooner? We rushed to the hospital, only to see him lying there lifeless with his eyes still open. It haunts me to picture him with his eyes open. I wanted him to look as though he was asleep, they could've closed his eyes.

That is the story of my brother Bobby. There are many happy memories as well. This is the story of his battle with AIDS.

Robert Charles Green on the Memorial