WARNING: This story deals with suicide and self-harm. Please see below for help and crisis information.
On Saturday the Herald reported on the sudden death of 13-year-old Raiana Boyd.
Today, Raiana’s mother is sharing more of her story, as the Prime Minister and others in power respond to the family’s open letter.
Senior journalist Anna Leask reports.
“I have trouble sleeping because the last image I have is doing chest compressions on my daughter,” Tasha Boyd said.
“My 12-year-old son found her, he came and got me… went and got his brother to call 111… not in a million years did I think this would happen.”
Raiana was struggling with aspects of her life, relationships and parts of her identity, Boyd said.
“She was bisexual, she didn’t like to be known as a girl, she was confused as hell.”
“She was seeing a counsellor but they could only do so much. I was trying to get her into other services that deal with rainbow youth.
“When we first went to one of them she was 12 and they said she had to be 13. We went back at 13 and still hadn’t heard back when she died - they must be so overwhelmed.
“It needs to be easier for these kids.”
Raiana’s death is being investigated for the Coroner.
Boyd said she has told the Coroner about her child’s struggles and issues
She said as part of the investigation her teen’s phone had also been taken so her messages could be investigated.
Last week Raiana’s aunt Brooke, a mental health nurse, said she believed Raiana was suffering with depression and anxiety.
She and another aunt - Kylie - had caught the teen cutting herself at Christmas and discussed it with her.
Raiana assured them at the time she wanted to live and would not seriously hurt herself - she wanted to be a writer and had been working on a book.
Boyd had also spoken with Raiana about self-harm and suicide.
“She said to me ‘I’d never do that’,” she remembered.
Boyd hopes the Coroner can help her make sense of Raiana’s death - and that the community learns from the tragedy.
Last week, she said she wanted more done by New Zealand authorities to address bullying - including a watchdog outside of the education space and a register so repeat offenders and victims could be “flagged” and the right help offered - also to perpetrators.
“Because bullies don’t get the help they need either,” Boyd said.
“They could be being abused at home, there could be family violence, they could be watching mum getting beaten up every day - their actions might be them screaming out for help.
“To solve bullying, you need to find out why the person is doing it; what is going on in their lives to make them behave like that.
“I actually became friends with my personal childhood bully later in life - and the shit that she was going through at the time… I don’t know how to explain it, but she was just trying to get herself in trouble so someone would ask ‘what the hell’s going on?’.”
After Raiana’s death, Brooke - with the support of Boyd - published an open letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, and the Ministry of Health and Government.
“No family should have to bury a child so young,” she wrote.
“No family should have to go through this heartache and grief of organising a funeral for a child.
“The help isn’t available, and in all honesty, I would think it would be - New Zealand’s suicide rates are one of the highest rates for youth.
“New Zealand needs a better, more effective mental health system - before it’s truly too late.
“Every young person deserves, needs, and should be prioritised for mental health support.”
Boyd added: “Mental health and disability in New Zealand needs to be prioritised before more families are in the same position.
“With the current Government cutting funding, the wait lists are going to grow and this will happen to more children and adults.
“This should be a priority – not something they can easily cut – because humans are more important than a budget.”
The Herald reached out to New Zealand’s leaders for comment on the letter.
“This is a tragic situation, and I can only imagine the feeling of loss that Raiana’s whanau must be feeling,” said the Prime Minister.
“This Government is very serious about mental health and Mental Health Minister, Matt Doocey is passionate about improving services for New Zealanders.
“Our young people are incredibly precious and anything we can do to prevent them from harm must be prioritised.”
Doocey said he had read the letter and described Raiana’s death as “an utterly tragic situation”.
He said the government “recognises the need to do more to improve mental health and addiction outcomes” and the establishment of his dedicated mental health portfolio was “an important first step”.
“I intend to use this portfolio to ensure a strong focus on mental health, addiction, and suicide prevention across government,” he said.
“Preventing suicide needs a community-wide and government-wide response that cuts across many sectors including health, mental health, education, and social development.
“New Zealand has a national strategy in place to guide the response to suicide. The 10-year strategy provides a framework for reducing suicide and carries through until 2029, supported by two 5-year action plans.
“I am currently working with my officials in the Ministry of Health to develop an updated action plan that will give meaningful effect to this.
“There is always more that can be done, and I expect health agencies and agencies across government to have a strong focus on this area.”
On Wednesday, Doocey announced funding for Gumboot Friday to deliver thousands more counselling services to young people through Mike King’s ‘I am Hope Foundation’.
“This $24 million investment is just part of our commitment to mental health, particularly amongst young people,” he said.
“My thoughts are with Raiana’s family and friends at this difficult time.
“The family has my deepest and most sincere condolences.”
Labour’s mental health spokesperson Ingrid Leary said there was “still so much work to do” around mental health in New Zealand.
“It will take political will, planning, resourcing and genuine listening to the voices of experience,” she said.
“My heart breaks for Raiana’s family and friends – no family should go through what they are going through.
“The fact that people around New Zealand are grappling with suicides every single day — and that Raiana was so young — speaks to the tragedy of our mental health and suicide statistics.”
Leary said it was crucial to “build resilience”.
“Particularly in the social media space,” she said.
“Build the mental health workforce and help young people and their families access timely support.
“We need to work across political parties… while also calling out political actions that are superficial and ineffective.
“Labour will keep calling out the Government’s moves to wind back mental health care and we’ll keep pushing for expanded access to the help people need.
“We will honour the fact that people are interdependent and that it’s ok to help each other and to work together to build our personal and collective resilience.”
Leary said it was important to have policies “that don’t marginalise”.
“For example, we know that Māori and rainbow communities, amongst others, have higher suicide rates,” she said.
“What gets me out of bed each day is the work towards an inclusive society… None of those things can bring back Raiana to her grieving family and for that I’m truly sorry.
“They have my commitment that lives like hers will continue to be why I get out of bed each day to advocate for better support for children and young people.”
ACT leader David Seymour acknowledged that youth mental health is a serious issue.
“I feel young people face greater pressures and anxieties than ever before for a range of reasons, from anxiety about the environment to omnipresent digital devices and high levels of bullying at school,” he said.
“I do feel the government is addressing these issues right across the board in addition to improving mental health capacity.
A spokesperson for Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said he was supportive of the Luxon and Doocey’s comments about the “tragic and devastating situation”.
A Givealittle page has been set up to help Raiana’s family through this difficult time.
Anna Leask is a Christchurch-based reporter who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 18 years with a particular focus on family violence, child abuse, sexual violence,. mental heatlh and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz
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