Covid shutdown and wait to see specialists may have led to schoolboy’s suicide, parents say
Whether COVID school closures and the long wait to see a specialist led to the suicide of 15-year-old Geelong schoolboy Abe Knox, his parents may never know. But they believe both contributed. Here is their story.
News
Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Whether COVID school closures and the long wait to see a specialist led to the suicide of 15-year-old Geelong schoolboy Abe Knox, his parents may never know for certain.
But they firmly believe both played a part in his May 29 death.
A talented sportsman and keen gardener, the Year 9 St Joseph’s College student loved nothing more than being with his mates.
Speaking to the Herald Sun as they drove to collect their boy’s ashes on Friday, Rylie and Phil Knox said Abe told them repeatedly how hard he was finding home schooling and not being able to socialise with his friends.
He also missed refereeing basketball, which was his passion and purpose.
A kid who struggled academically and preferred sport and manual labour to essays and homework, remote learning was tough on Abe, who had always needed extra, hands-on help. Worried about their son’s growing anxiety levels, the family tried unsuccessfully for more than a month to secure an appointment with a Geelong paediatrician or psychiatrist to review, and perhaps adjust, Abe’s small daily dose of the antidepressant fluoxetine.
“He had mentioned he felt a bit ‘cloudy’ recently on the medication,” Ms Knox said.
“And he’d questioned what the point of everything was, which worried us … I rang around, but couldn’t get him in anywhere.”
Abe died without being seen by either a paediatrician or psychiatrist this year.
“I’m not opposed to lockdown – I think that’s important – but I do wonder if he had been able to continue doing the things he loves … had his sport and social connections, that we might have kept him going,” Ms Knox said.
“I think not having those things played a big role.
“He was saying, when he had to home school, how difficult it was for him, and how much he missed the social side of school.”
Just hours before his death, Abe Google-searched garden makeovers, played Fortnite with his friends and chatted with his family.
Earlier in the day he went for a run.
Despite their concerns about his worsening mental health over the lockdown period, nothing their son said, or did, on Friday, May 29, this year, suggested he planned to take his own life and needed emergency intervention, mental health triaging or inpatient care, Ms Knox said.
Abe had big dreams of umpiring Olympic level basketball and becoming a grounds keeper at the MCG; plans he had spoken about in the days leading up to his suicide.
And he was loved and supported by his parents, three sisters and many mates.
Life for all of them, without Abe, was “agony”, Ms Knox said.
Abe’s death – which came just months after that of another St Joseph’s College student, Tom Barnett – is one of five child suicides in the Geelong region this year and 11 in the State, between January and July.
The mother of Bellarine Peninsula student Louie Shearman – who took his own life at the age of 16, on April 26 – also believes COVID lockdown played a role in her son’s suicide.
The State coroner will investigate the Geelong region deaths as a group, to determine if they constitute a cluster, and if anything can be done to prevent future suicides.
It’s understood that in the month before the second lockdown, the Victorian Education Department’s support line received double the number of calls for urgent mental health assistance.
The State Government has moved to support students with fragile mental health during remote learning with extra funding to train staff to identify at-risk kids, among a raft of other measures.
Senator Sarah Henderson said the Federal Government was also providing more funding for mental health services like headspace.
But Ms Henderson – who is pushing for youth mental health Prevention and Recovery Care (PARC) beds in Geelong – said families were experiencing “a basic failure” of service delivery in parts of regional Victoria.
“For young people at risk who need urgent medical attention, this must be provided without delay … families should be able to contact their local health service which can triage all cases immediately so that no-one falls through the cracks.
“Whether it’s a hospital admission, an immediate appointment with a psychiatrist or a paediatric assessment, families cannot be put on a wait list. That’s when tragedies happen,” she said.
If Abe had been able to see a specialist and have his medication reviewed, and if he had been able to hang out with his mates and play sport, “it might have been different”, Ms Knox said.
“Maybe we’d still have him.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health and at risk of suicide contact a support service immediately.
Call Lifeline on 13 11 14, the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467, Headspace on 1800 650 890, Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.
MORE NEWS
MUMS WHO LOST SONS TO SUICIDE PLEADING FOR CHANGE