A coroner’s inquest began on Monday into the death of 16- year-old Lexi Daken, who died by suicide in 2021 just days after leaving the emergency room without receiving help.
Much of Monday’s testimony examined Daken’s first suicide attempt in November of 2020 and the months leading up to her death on Feb. 24, 2021.
A jury of three women and two men was selected Monday morning to hear testimony and determine the cause and circumstance of Daken’s death and make recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future. Coroner’s inquests are not criminal trials and do not seek to assign blame or find fault.
The jury first heard from Edward Johnson, a primary care paramedic who responded an overdose call at Daken’s home at 2:46 a.m. on Nov. 17, 2020. He said that Daken told him her intent was to “commit suicide” and that she had engaged in self-harm by cutting her legs in the past.
Terri Lynn Gray is a registered nurse and team lead in the emergency room at the Dr. Edward Chalmers Hospital in Fredericton. She assessed Daken when she arrived at the hospital just after 3 a.m. on Nov. 17 and was assessed at a level 2 priority, meaning she had to see a physician within 15 minutes. She was seen within five minutes.
Daken had taken 30 pills each of extra-strength Tylenol and Dilaudid along with some blood pressure medication, but had attempted to vomit some up. Gray says Daken was awake and aware. She was medically cleared later that morning before seeing the hospital psychiatrist who discharged her at 10:50 a.m.
Dr. Abatoki Otusajo is the psychiatrist at the Chalmers in Fredericton who saw Daken that morning. He diagnosed her with major depressive disorder and said she displayed borderline personality traits after performing an assessment. Daken was prescribed Prozac and referred for mental health counselling.
While there were empty beds in the hospital’s psychiatric ward, Otusajo said he saw no reason to admit Daken, who was showing remorse for her suicide attempt. Her father Chris Daken also told Otusajo that he was already looking into private counselling and was comfortable with the treatment plan moving forward.
That led to Daken having five appointments with counsellor Joan Doyle between November and February while she was waiting for a spot at a youth clinic. Doyle said that she was assigned to Daken through her father’s employee assistance program and that they had their first session the day after her suicide attempt on Nov. 18.
While conducting her suicide risk assessment, Doyle said that she wasn’t worried in the short term, but believed Daken would need ongoing long-term therapy to unpack “significant developmental relational trauma” related to her childhood.
Doyle said Daken was remorseful and said she had no intentions of trying to take her own life again. She was an academic high achiever who loved school and sports, but Doyle said that the limited access to both school and extracurricular sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic was hard on Daken.
Daken saw Doyle every two weeks until Christmas and she seemed to be improving. In a session after the holidays, Daken told Doyle that something had happened with her family over the break and that her depression was reoccurring. She also shared that she was not eating well and starving herself three days a week and lying to her family about her food intake. Doyle encouraged her to tell the public mental health clinic about her eating as soon as she was taken on as a patient.
Dolye described Daken “as a ray of light” during her sometimes emotional testimony.
“She was full of light, she was a girl that to know her was to love her,” Doyle said.
The inquest continues on Tuesday.
If you or someone you know is in crisis and needs help, resources are available. In case of an emergency, please call 911.
The Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention, Depression Hurts and Kids Help Phone 1-800-668-6868 — all offer ways for getting help if you, or someone you know, is suffering from mental health issues.
For a directory of support services in your area, visit the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention.
Learn more about how to help someone in crisis on the Government of Canada website.
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