‘Never healed’: Heartbroken mother of Dalby teen says daughter felt abandoned

The mother of a Queensland teen who recently died by suicide says she has grieved the loss of ‘Lishy’ for seven years because of her own “traumatising” mental health battle. Warning: Distressing content

The biological mother of an 18-year-old girl who died by suicide in March says she has grieved the loss of ‘Lishy’ for seven years.

Dalby teenager Eleisha Hamilton died by suicide on March 22, nearly six weeks after 21-year-old Harrison ‘Harry’ Beil lost his life to suicide in the country town.

Eleisha’s mother Bronwyn Doran said the 18-year-old “brought so much light, love and joy into my own very dark and traumatised life”.

She said Eleisha was an emotionally intelligent child, who would often “go out of her way to make others smile”.

“We’d go out shopping, up the main street or in the supermarket … Eleisha would walk up to strangers and say ‘I love your dress, that looks beautiful on you’ or ‘I really like your earrings’…(Eleisha) was just that sort of person … she had a heart of gold,” Ms Doran said.

“Up until Eleisha was age 10 she would sleep in my bed with me, we were really close … Saturday nights were our popcorn and movie nights.

“ (Eleisha) always wanted me to be part of whatever she was doing … I would walk her to class, sit with her at parades and even go up to (the school) at lunchtime.

“We loved our school holidays together … we would go down to grannies on the Sunshine Coast.”

Ms Doran said as a child Eleisha was afraid of the dark but in her teenage years “Lishy wanted to be in darkness”.

“I would do sparklers with her at night to get her used to the dark … we would also sleep in a tent on the weekend … but (Eleisha) would always want the tent right outside the front steps,” she said. 

Eleisha Hamilton with her mum Bronwyn Doran. Picture: Supplied

Eleisha was a fun and loving child, who from a very young age was into fashion and makeup.

“She loved to dance and listen to music,” Ms Doran said.

Eleisha was forced into foster care aged 12 after Ms Doran suffered a mental breakdown which triggered psychosis. 

“It was the hardest decision I had to make in my life … looking back on it now, you could call it selfish but I didn’t stop to think of the trauma I put (Eleisha) through,” Ms Doran said.

“But in all honesty it was just the pressures of parenting on my own and the fact my own traumatic childhood had come back to haunt me … I had no other avenues other than to place (Eleisha) in state care.”

Ms Doran said Eleisha felt “abandoned” and ended up living with three foster carers between the ages of 12 and 15.

She said 15-year-old Eleisha wrote a letter that said “you’re my mum, you’ll always be my mum” but the “damage was done”.

Eleisha felt abandoned and ended up living with three foster carers between the ages of 12 and 15. Picture: Supplied

“Our relationship never really healed … (Eleisha) never healed,” she said.

Ms Doran said she eventually asked Eleisha if she wanted to “come back home”.

“ (Eleisha) said no, only to tell me years later (that) she only said no to protect herself … she didn’t want to have to go back into care when I got sick again,” she said.

“So, I left her in foster care … in my own head I was hopeful that one day we would bond again like we did before I got sick … that thought kept me alive.”

It is understood Eleisha knew 21-year-old Harrison ‘Harry’ Beil, who died by suicide on February 11.

Harry’s father Robert Beil previously told The Courier-Mail that seven young people had lost their lives to suicide in the town this year.

While a Queensland Suicide Register (QSR) spokeswoman said there have been four suspected suicides in the first quarter of 2023.

Asked about the Dalby suicide cluster, Ms Doran said: “I think Eleisha might have been the fourth or fifth”.

Eleisha was described as an emotionally intelligent child, who would go out of her way to make others smile. Picture: Supplied

The Beil family, who had called for more mental health services for teenagers and young adults in rural towns, have since partnered with Lifeline to establish a ‘drop in’ support centre.

Harry’s sister Emily Beil, 19, along with friends Chloe Smith, 24, and Anna Willcock, 20, launched The Green Dot Foundation, a mental health movement and “safe space” in Dalby.

“There isn’t a lot of help out there in rural areas and the help that is there is quite expensive,” Ms Smith said.

Ms Doran gave birth to Eleisha at Nambour Hospital on June 14, 2004 but just six months later Eleisha’s father chose alcohol over his newborn daughter.

“I would protect her father by always saying ‘daddy loves you very much, he’s just off doing his own thing’ … I’d always be the one to ring him, just so Eleisha could hear her daddy’s voice,” she said.

“Eleisha would sit by the phone waiting, but again and again she would be let down by her own father.”

Harrison Beil died by suicide in February. Picture: Supplied

Eleisha grew up in Kingaroy and Kumbia in The South Burnett Region but spent her teenage years in Dalby.

Ms Doran lives in the Northern Territory but would often visit Eleisha.

She said a month before Eleisha died the 18-year-old had asked for rent money.

“ (Eleisha) sent me a message and said, ‘hey I feel terrible for asking but can I borrow $100’ … I texted back and said, ‘what you only want to talk when you want something?’,” Ms Doran said.

Ms Doran said Eleisha’s nickname was the ‘two-day millionaire’.

“She would get paid and then two days later she would be broke,” she said.

“ (Eleisha) passed before I got to tell her how much I loved her … I also held onto so much hope that one day we would forgive each other … If only I gave (Eleisha) that $100 (only one month before she passed) … I only hope I can live with the guilt I said no.”