VERNON – An Okanagan teen and her family are recovering after a traumatic incident in a place where you should feel safe.
A 15-year-old Vernon girl says she was attacked and bitten by another patient at Kelowna General Hospital.
The family is now going public about last week’s incident in order to warn other parents.
“My child is in a fragile mental state and then to get attacked is unbelievable,” says mother Jenny Andree.
She is still in disbelief about what happened to her teenage daughter while the 15-year-old was receiving treatment at Kelowna General Hospital’s Adolescent Psychiatry Unit.
“They tell you over and over again that your child is safe,” says Andree. “Which is a lie.”
The family says the incident happenedWednesday night when another patient walked into their daughter’s room.
“I gave her the hug and then all of a sudden I’m in this choke hold and it feels like she is trying to snap my neck,” says 15-year-old Jessica. “I was fighting it off.”
“I had no idea what was going on, but then all of a sudden she is trying to bite my face so I tried to pull away and then my face is being clamped,” the teen continues.
Staff members pulled the other patient away, but Jessica believes her injuries could have been much worse if it wasn’t for a trick she learned from her aunt.
“It was a very unfortunate incident for sure,” says Adolescent Psychiatry Unit manger Colleen McEwan. “It is very rare. These things don’t happen.”
McEwan says an investigation is underway to find out what happened.
“I do believe that the unit is safe and we are just following up now to see what happened and what can be done differently,” she adds.
The family is going public now, in part, to warn other parents.
“I asked the unit if the other parents were notified that an incident occurred that was unsafe on the unit and they said no it is not in their protocol,” says Jenny Andree. “I would like the other parents to know that it isn’t as safe as they claim it to be.”
“I do believe the unit is safe,” says McEwan. “This is a really unusual incident and we are working with each individual youth and each individual family. We check in on the kids every-day, we talk to the families, we make sure that they are okay with the care that is going on and we follow up as needed.”
Concerned after Wednesday’s incident, the family brought their daughter home immediately.
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