Lexi Daken was made to feel like a burden at Fredericton ER, father testifies
Teenager took her own life within days of being sent home from Chalmers Hospital without help
WARNING: This story containsdetails about suicide.
Lexi Daken's father sayshe doesn't believe his daughter wanted to die.
"I don't think she was a kid who wanted her life to end," Chris Daken told a coroner's inquest on Tuesday morning.
"I don't believe that was what her end goal was."
Daken said Lexi just wanted to get help and was made to feel like a "burden" on Feb. 18, 2021, when she went to the emergency department at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital in Fredericton, where she waited nine hours.
"This was a kid that had a lot of future plans," Daken testified on the second day of the inquest into Lexi's death.
She loved sports and excelled at several, especially softball. She was a gifted student whose marks were all above 90, "with lots of hundreds," Daken said.
He said it was a family joke to feign disappointment in anything less than 100.
Daken said Lexi wanted to be a neurologist from the age of nine.
She also made long- and short-term plans with family members, including within hours of taking a fatal dose of pills the night of Feb. 23.
'Love you, Dad'
Daken and Lexi had gone to Saint John that evening to pick up a side-by-side. Daken said they chatted easily on the drive and returned to theirMaugervillehome between 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.
He went to bed about an hour later, with Lexi telling him, "Love you, Dad."
Around 2:30 a.m. or 3 a.m., Daken was awakened by a thump on the floor above him.
He found Lexi lying on the floor in the hallway.
Daken worried there wasn't time to call an ambulance, so he scooped Lexi up and rushed her to the hospital.
After three code blues over several hours, Lexi died that morning.
To reporters outside the inquest, Daken said he and his oldest daughter, Piper, vowed early on to fight to ensure Lexi didn't die in vain.
"And we're still trying to hold up that end of our agreement. If Lexi's death saves other children then we know her life was worthwhile."
The Dakens don't think someone who expresses thoughts of suicide should be made to wait nine hours in the emergency department.
"To me, that should be a red flag right away You should be seen ASAP," he said.
And it definitely shouldn't be a nine-hour wait.
Piper said the inquest can provide those in power to make "major systemic changes." She said the system "needs to adapt to our current climate."
The inquest heard more details about an emergency room visit on Feb. 18, 2021, where she spent almost nine hours at the hospital and was sent home with a referral for mental health followup.
It's this visit that Chris and Piper Daken are critical of.
Lexi was taken to the emergency room of the Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital around lunchtime on Feb. 18 by her guidance counsellor.
Shelley Hansen said she met with Lexi for the first time on Dec. 2, 2020, and the two bonded immediately. She said Lexi opened up to her very quickly and shared the details of her life and experiences that had led her to trying to take her life two weeks earlier.
Lexi said "she thinks about dying every hour of the day, which was really hard for me to hear," Hansen said.
"That was a big red flag for me."
Hansen said Lexi experienced ups and downs over the next two months, but by February, she was struggling.Lexi hadn't been sleeping and was afraid she would never get better.
When she dropped by Hansen's office on Feb. 18, she felt worse again and had only slept three hours in four days.
She also said she was thinking about suicide again and had a plan to take pills again.
Hansen said she felt "it was the end of my skill set." She thought Lexi needed a psychiatrist and decided to take her to the emergency department.
Because they spent almost nine hours in the hospital, Hansen said, they had a lot of time to talk. She said Lexi was initially reluctant and fearful about staying in the psychiatric unit, but Hansen told her about another student who had gone and was doing much better.
Hansen said Lexi eventually accepted that such a stay would benefit her.
Hours-long wait
It took until about 7:30or 8 p.m. for them to be taken into a room to be seen by an emergency room doctor.
After talking with the doctor and waiting for the results of blood tests, the doctor returned around 9 p.m. and asked if Lexi would "contract" with her a promise by the patient that they won't harm themselves and be safe at home.
Hansen said the doctor said, "Lexi, if you don't contract with me, I'll be forced to call in a psychiatrist."
Hansen said she was "shocked" at the use of the word "force." She said she saw something change in Lexi's face when she heard it.
Hansen explained that Lexi always followed the rules and was "a people pleaser."
At this point in her testimony, Hansen started to cry, and she took a few moments to compose herself before she continued.
"Yeah, the look on her face really worried me."
Hansen told the doctor that she believed Lexi really needed to see a psychiatrist.
Had to promise not to hurt herself
The doctor said she could page the on-call psychiatrist or Lexi could see a psychiatrist as an "outpatient consult."
Hansen said Lexi kept looking back and forth between her and the doctor and said,"Yeah, I think I can" promise.
Hansen said she felt uncomfortable with the decision. She said they talked more about it while they sat in the parking lot waiting for Lexi's father to pick her up.
Dr. Rebecca McGinn was the emergency room doctor who saw Lexi on Feb. 18.
She said she started her shift that day at 2 p.m. and picked up Lexi's chart at 7:15 p.m.
Wouldn't 'contract' on first visit
McGinn said she spent 15 to 20 minutes with Lexi and said she "appeared in absolutely no distress."
As a mother of four, McGinn said,she had a particular knack for making people comfortable, and it didn't take long for Lexi to open up to her.
She said Lexi told her things were worsening. She said Lexi would not "contract" with her.
McGinn returned to talk to Lexi around 9 p.m. and said the teen's mental status presented as "very stable."
She said she gave Lexi two options she could page the on-call psychiatrist or give her an "urgent" outpatient consultation for later. She said she provided options because she believed Lexi's mental health status was safe. She said she was "comfortable" with both options.
McGinn left the room and when she returned, she said, Lexi told her she would prefer the outpatient referral.
Between two separate visits, McGinn said, she spent 30 minutes with Lexi.
Tried everything to save her, doctor says
The inquest also heard from Dr. Krishna Pulchan, an emergency medicine and intensive care specialist who tried to save Lexi's life on Feb. 24.
He described the extent to which he and his colleagues went and how none of their interventions could save her.
He said after almost six hours of trying everything they could think of, they cancelled a prolonged code blue and stopped their efforts.
Pulchan said losing a patient can be "scarring" to health-care providers, so they had a quick debrief on the spot,at about 10:45 a.m., where he expressed his gratitude for their efforts.
"This one was particularly difficult for the team for obvious reasons," Pulchan told the inquest.
At the conclusion of his testimony, he told the room, "This was a humbling experience for me."
If you are in crisis or know someone who is, here is where to get help:
CHIMO hotline: 1-800-667-5005 /http://www.chimohelpline.ca
Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868, Live Chat counselling atwww.kidshelpphone.ca
Canada Suicide Prevention Service: 1-833-456-4566
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