This is the second in a series of stories chronicling a young mother's efforts to get help for her mentally ill teenage daughter in Rankin Inlet.
With her fear, anger and frustrations continuing to mount with every refusal by the healthcare system to help her daughter, a Rankin Inlet mom is quickly finding herself at her wit's end.
She said a local RCMP officer told her that they agreed her teenage daughter needed help, but couldn't get the proper paperwork done.
鈥淚t was a female officer who had picked up my daughter a few times and knew her the most,鈥� said the mother. 鈥淭his officer picked up my daughter a few times and even brought her to the health centre to speak with mental health a couple of times and it was this officer who came to my house, in my porch, talking to me, and she said that social services had told her there was too much paperwork involved to send my daughter out.
鈥淢y daughter had a rough month in March, staying in places that aren't home, and I know that she's trying to cope. But she's not trying to cope in good ways. She was turning to drugs and alcohol and vandalizing and breaking-and-entering into people's homes and shacks.
鈥淭hat's not the kind of life I want for her. I'm a mother of seven. I have four from my first marriage, who are all adults and on their own and doing their own thing. I have a 30-year-old son and a 26-year-old daughter who ask me for permission to do this or that and they're on their own. That's how I raised my kids.
鈥淎nd then I have this 16-year-old daughter who I raised myself who recently tried to attack me with a knife. That's weird, violent behaviour and not how I raised my kids. This is not the lifestyle I want for her. How long before my daughter seriously hurts herself or someone else?鈥�
The teenager's mother said when she looks at her daughter she sees that she's still in there behind the violence and mental-health issues.
She said she still hopes that one day she'll get her daughter back 鈥� the sweet kid that she used to be.
鈥淚 have mental health problems myself and it was my kids who saved me. It was my kids who kept me going all these years. I can look into my daughter's eyes and I can tell if I'm talking to her or if I'm talking to a wall because her eyes just go dead.
鈥淚 know her better than anybody else in this world. I made her with my own ingredients. I know her better than the cops, social service or mental health. One day a couple of weeks ago, I just felt very defeated. I just laid in bed all day and cried because I know my kids need help.
鈥淚 can love them. I can hug them. I can tell them how much I love them. I can tell them that they're beautiful. I can feed them. I can clothe them. I can do all of that, but there's really only so much I can do.
鈥淚'm not a doctor, but I know there's something not working right in my daughter's mind. My four older kids from my first marriage are healthy, fine kids. But my younger three from my second marriage all have seizures and two out of three of them are showing signs on mental illness.鈥�
Fighting back tears, the mother asked what are the odds of all three of her younger kids having seizures.
She said she doesn't know how many times she's taken her youngest daughter to the health centre only to be sent home. She said she requested to see a neurologist and have her girl diagnosed properly and she's still waiting. How long before her youngest starts having the same problems as her 16-year-old, she wonders.
鈥淚 need help now. I know there's something wrong with my kid. What if I get a phone call one day and that's it, you know. I'm not going to spend another three years waiting for help because I know she needs help. What are they going to do after the fact? They gonna send me their prayers and condolences? What am I going to do with them?
鈥淚 want help now while she's still breathing. I've told them that time and time again."
As of press time, the mother's 16-year-old daughter had been released from police custody and is reportedly being kept at a local hotel with a foster parent being with her around the clock.
