Canadian woman in Washington died after refusing care due to deportation fear, son says A 61-year-old Canadian woman living in Point Roberts, Washington, died after declining hospital care following a fall because she feared deportation proceedings would prevent her from returning home, her son says. A Canadian woman living in Point Roberts, Washington, died after she refused hospital care following a fall at her home because she feared U.S. deportation proceedings would prevent her from returning to the country, her son says. Immigration fears prevented hospital careDylan Adamson says his 61-year-old mother, Paige Adamson, was afraid to leave the United States after immigration authorities recently began deportation proceedings against her. The proceedings alleged she illicitly voted in a state election in 2018. Adamson says he only learned of his mother's fall after speaking with a firefighter who attended the scene of her death last Sunday, within a week of the accident.The fall came about a month after Paige Adamson, a U.S. permanent resident, was heading home from a birthday dinner in nearby Tsawwassen, B.C. , when American border officials held her for hours and questioned her about voting in the country. Dylan Adamson says his mother did not recall registering to vote or casting a ballot, and the ensuing deportation proceedings sent her into a panic. He lives in British Columbia.Adamson says he has been told paramedics who saw his mother before her death said she needed to go to a hospital. She signed a form declining further care because she was afraid of crossing the border. Health care is limited in Point Roberts, a small community cut off from the rest of the United States and accessible by land only by travelling through British Columbia.Paige Adamson refused to be taken to a hospital because she feared being unable to return home due to the deportation action, her son says. I am just at a loss, Dylan Adamson said. Just because of a vote, my mom is dead. Just because of a stupid technicality, my mom is dead.Point Roberts lacks full-service hospitalA photo provided by Dylan Adamson shows Paige Adamson, who lived in Point Roberts, Washington. The image is an undated handout photo from the family. The case highlights the limited medical options in Point Roberts and the cross-border complications residents face when they need urgent care. The community has no full-service hospital, so patients are typically taken to facilities in Canada or elsewhere in Washington state.For Paige Adamson, leaving Point Roberts meant crossing an international border at a time when she believed U.S. authorities would detain her. Her family says that fear drove her decision to decline care. Dylan Adamson says his mother was a U.S. permanent resident and had lived in the area for years. He says she was not politically active and did not remember the 2018 vote at the centre of the immigration case.The deportation proceedings began after she was stopped at the border while returning from a birthday dinner in Tsawwassen, B.C. She was held for hours and questioned about voting, her son says. The incident left her panicked and afraid to travel, according to her son. When she fell at home earlier this month, she refused treatment rather than risk being taken across the border and possibly detained.Her death occurred last Sunday, within a week of the fall. Dylan Adamson learned what happened only after a firefighter who responded to the scene contacted him. He says paramedics who saw his mother before her death told her she needed hospital care. She signed a form declining further treatment because she was afraid of crossing the border.Tragedy highlights border and health care intersectionI am just at a loss, he said. Just because of a vote, my mom is dead. Just because of a stupid technicality, my mom is dead. The case has drawn attention to how border enforcement and limited health care can intersect for residents of Point Roberts, a U.S. exclave that depends on Canada for road access.Paige Adamson was 61 years old. She lived in Point Roberts, Washington, and was a U.S. permanent resident originally from Canada. Her son provided an undated handout photo of his mother. The Canadian Press obtained the image with a mandatory credit to Dylan Adamson.The family is now left grieving a death they say might have been prevented if she had not feared leaving the country for medical treatment.