’There’s something wrong with mum’: Covid inquest hears of final phone calls before Ms Dick’s death

Farron Jackson said when he finally spoke to his mother, ‘just (by) her voice alone I knew something was wrong’, after she was evacuated from her home in Robinson River.

Robinson River woman Ms Dick pictured with husband Freddy. Picture supplied by her family.

The son of a woman who died at the Howard Springs quarantine facility during the Covid pandemic has relived the moment he “got the frantic call from my siblings that something was wrong with mum”.

Farron Jackson gave evidence on Monday at an inquest into the death of his mother, known as Ms Dick for cultural reasons, at the Centre for National Resilience in December 2021.

He said he remembered taking the call “on a Friday afternoon straight after work”, describing Ms Dick as a woman who never wanted to make a fuss.

(My sisters) just said ‘There’s something wrong with mum and she’s not being honest with us’,” he said.

“As her children she told us not to worry about her, ‘I’m your mother, don’t worry about me’ and she just wouldn’t give us the answer.”

Mr Jackson said when he finally spoke to his mother himself, “just (by) her voice alone I knew something was wrong”, after she was evacuated from her home in Robinson River as a close contact of a Covid case in the community.

“She told us she wasn’t ill even up until the day she got real sick and then she looked at my cousin and said ‘I think I need to go to the hospital’,” he said.

In his testimony, Mr Jackson remembered a “great mum” who was “all about family”.

“She not only raised me and my two sisters, she took on board and raised her sister’s children as well,” he said.

Ms Dick's son Farron Jackson (right) outside court on Monday.

“She took on extra kids and her biological children were taught ‘What’s yours is now theirs, so you have to share with them’.

“Just an incredible mum, she instilled such great values and morals.”

Mr Jackson said while “dad was the one that always spoiled us”, Ms Dick had been “the great disciplinarian”.

“When you got your ass whooped she explained why you got your ass whooped,” he said with a laugh.

“We’re still crying from the whooping and she’s cuddling us and explaining gently to us why we got the whooping.”

Mr Jackson said recognition of Aboriginal people’s experiences of racism and better efforts to make them feel comfortable in the quarantine facility might have helped his mother feel comfortable raising the alarm sooner.

“Some of us have experienced the ugliness of racism and there are certain situations that could just remind us of it and the department needs to learn to communicate better with its patients without giving off that type of impression,” he said.

“I think if there were some Aboriginal liaison officers and Indigenous interpreter services and Aboriginal mental health people it would have accommodated them tremendously.

“In the future I hope that this experience will allow the department to reflect on themselves and the way they just treat people in general.

“An apology to my dad would be good.”

The inquest continues on Tuesday.

Inquest reveals tragic twist in death of woman at Covid quarantine facility

A woman who died after catching melioidosis at the Howard Springs quarantine facility following her evacuation from Robinson River during the pandemic did not have Covid and may have been unlawfully detained, a court has heard.

On Monday, Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage opened an inquest into the deaths of Ms Dick, David Hardy and Karen Bading who each died at the Centre for National Resilience between November 2021 and January 2022.

Counsel assisting the Coroner Patrick Coleridge told Ms Armitage the 50-year-old, known only as Ms Dick for cultural reasons, was part of a group airlifted out of Robinson River after a positive case was detected in the remote Aboriginal community.

Despite some criticism expected to be levelled at the Health Department during the course of the inquiry, Mr Coleridge acknowledged the “extraordinary circumstances” the Rapid Assessment Team was operating under when they “managed to swab almost every member of the Robinson River community”.

“That was an extraordinary accomplishment and one that put the members of the RAT at risk,” he said.

“I don’t say that in any way to criticise anyone, or Health, but to recognise the extraordinary and selfless task that they undertook.”

Mr Coleridge said Ms Dick had been identified as a close contact and the chief health officer directions in place at the time did not permit close contacts to be evacuated from communities without their informed consent.

“I understand (Health Department) witnesses will give evidence that community members were frightened of getting Covid, wanted to avoid catching Covid and were eager to be evacuated to the CNR which was perceived by the community to be much safer,” he said.

“On the other hand, there are a number of witnesses, including members of Ms Dick’s family and community who have provided statements in which they say they didn’t consent to being evacuated to the CNR.”

Mr Coleridge said on one view of the evidence, the community members “did not think they had a choice” and thought they were “simply complying” with a direction to leave.

“Without consent there is a very plausible argument that at the time of her death, Ms Dick was unlawfully detained at the CNR.”

By December 7 2021, Mr Coleridge said Ms Dick had fallen ill and was having trouble breathing and two of the CNR nurses called an ambulance to take her to hospital.

But he said a mix up led to the paramedics being delayed by up to 30 minutes, although the delay was unlikely to have changed her prognosis after she contracted melioidosis “from breathing in air in which the melioidosis spores were present” at the centre.

“Upon their arrival, Ms Dick collapsed and they couldn’t find a pulse, paramedics commenced CPR and provided medical assistance until all agreed that further efforts were futile,” he said.

“Ms Dick was determined not to have died of Covid, which she didn’t have, but from acute melioidosis.”

The inquest continues.

Originally published as ’There’s something wrong with mum’: Covid inquest hears of final phone calls before Ms Dick’s death