Natasha Ablett inquest: Fatal drug overdose days before planned release
Natasha Ablett fled a mental health centre when staff were distracted on the day she died of a fatal drug overdose. She reportedly expressed excitement about her future plans at an Ablett family meeting just days earlier.
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Natasha Ablett’s fatal drug overdose happened just four days before she was to be discharged from Geelong’s Swanston Centre.
The tragic life of Ms Ablett – the eldest child of Cats footy great Gary Ablett Sr and sister of present-day star Gary Ablett Jr – was detailed in the Victorian Coroner’s Court this morning.
Her family was not present, but will be provided with the summary inquest finding made by coroner John Olle.
The court heard Ms Ablett battled schizophrenia since her late teens until her death, aged 35 on October 12, 2017, and her attempts to self-medicate with illicit drugs exacerbated her complex mental health issues.
She was a “chronic absconder from mental health units”, the court was told, and she was reported missing to police 36 times, 16 of those while an involuntary patient at Barwon Health’s Swanston Centre for acute psychiatric admissions.
The court heard she was “unfailingly honest” about her reasons for absconding, regularly telling staff and family she did so to take drugs.
Tragically, her final escape was an “impulsive and opportunistic” decision made without warning and just days short of her release into a transitional housing unit.
At a family meeting just days earlier, Ms Ablett reportedly expressed excitement about her impending move into the community, making plans to try and have her son, now a teenager, stay the night.
“I can’t wait,” she reportedly said at the meeting.
But four days before her planned discharge she walked out the doors of the Swanston Centre while staff and police were occupied by a hostile patient, and got in a taxi about 5pm.
The court heard Ms Ablett’s mother and legal guardian Susan Le Dain had taken her on escorted leave earlier that afternoon, and – like her carers – had not noted particular concerns about her state of mind.
Mr Olle said Ms Ablett first travelled to an address in Belmont, where she got money, then to Norlane, where she purchased drugs and later died near a friend’s caravan.
Mr Olle said he was satisfied Ms Ablett took the drugs knowingly, and her death by “mixed drug toxicity” was unintentional.
But he noted she had traces of the potent opioid fentanyl in her system, a drug she had not previously been known to use. He said it was possible she was naive to this substance, unaware of its risks, or possibly unaware she was taking it.
He said Barwon Health had made a number of changes to doorways at the Swanston Centre since the tragedy, and planned to develop a four-bed high-dependency unit in the Swanston Centre later this year.
The court heard police had been unable to ascertain who sold the drugs to Ms Ablett on the night she died.
“I have no doubt her family never stopped loving or supporting her,” Mr Olle concluded.
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Originally published as Natasha Ablett inquest: Fatal drug overdose days before planned release