Sarah Niyimbona’s story is one that will anger you as much as it will break your heart.
Trigger warning: discussions of death by suicide
According to a report in People, the 12-year-old was admitted to Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital under 24-hour supervised watch after several attempts to end her life. Niyimbona’s struggles with depression and self-harm began in late 2024 prior to her admission into the hospital in January 2025. Because of her acute condition and repeated attempts, hospital staff was instructed to be on high alert and somehow, they still dropped the ball. On April 13, Sarah walked around the facility unsupervised and jumped off of a fourth floor parking garage. She did not pass away on impact, but suffered extensive injuries that resulted in hours of surgeries that were unable to save her.
The family has filed a lawsuit against the parent facility, Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, alleging that a hospital staffer and the video monitors required to monitor Sarah were removed in the days before her death.
“Sarah Niyimbona experienced extreme fear, pain, and suffering in the hours prior to her death,” the lawsuit alleges, saying she “died needlessly due to the negligence of defendant Providence in failing to keep her safe.”
Subsequently after the tragedy, 15 nurses were terminated for alleged “patient privacy violations.” The nurses have filed a grievance via Washington State Nurses Association claiming that they were fired for speaking to the media following Sarah’s death.
“Providence takes violations of our code of conduct and federal privacy laws that govern private health information very seriously. We review employee conduct and take appropriate action, including termination of employment, where warranted,” Providence told People in a statement.
The issue at hand is that the nurses are said to have accessed Sarah’s medical records after her death, which did not serve a medical purpose.
A GoFundMe campaign has been launched by Sarah’s family and any contribution you make to them to help with medical expenses and legal fees would surely be appreciated during this difficult time.
