Coroner Ian Smith has urged mental health services in Wairarapa to use the experiences of a Masterton woman who lost her son to suicide last year.
The coroner's inquest in Masterton yesterday heard details of events leading to the death of Samuel Patrick Ryan, 16, in June 2011. "Please take up this lady's help - I don't want to find out later it didn't happen. Some of the questions you're asking I deal with all the time," said Mr Smith.
Sam's mum, Toni Ryan, asked why agencies involved with Sam - including police, Child Youth and Family, the Wairarapa District Health Board and Ministry of Justice - were not talking to one another and did not step in to protect Sam. "Everybody knew because I kept saying, 'Please help my baby. I'm terrified he's going to kill himself'."
Mrs Ryan said she was often upset in meetings with agencies leading up to the death because she knew how close he was to suicide. "The privacy and word of a 16-year-old, mentally ill child is more important than his life."
Mrs Ryan said Sam had not reached developmental milestones due to dyspraxia and mild autism, and later had started using drugs and alcohol, leaving school in 2010. "It was hard to keep Sam on the right track."