An inquest into a young woman’s death uncovered how she wrote the word “help” 27 times in her notebook before taking her own life.
Grace, whose full name is being suppressed during the investigation, died after shooting herself with a rifle in her parents’ bedroom in the Darwin suburb of Parap on January 28, 2022.
The inquest into the death of the 13-year-old student found that a notebook had been discovered showing the teenager had been struggling for some time.
Inside the book, Grace had written the word “help” 27 times, among other notes that Northern Territory coroner Elisabeth Armitage said Grace had hidden from others, including family and friends.
“It sounds like a cry for help but it was a secret, silent cry – sadly nowadays there are probably other children secretly and silently asking for help,” Mrs Armitage told the inquest, it was reported. Northern Territory News.
An investigation into a young woman who took her own life found that she wrote the word “help” 27 times in her notebook (file image)
“It seems to me that as a community we have to find a way to give them their voice back.”
Counsel assisting coroner Chrissy McConnel said Grace “should have had her whole life ahead of her” when she took the rifle and ended her life.
The investigation revealed details of the teenager’s death after the girl took the firearm from an open closet inside the bedroom.
Grace’s father, who gave evidence at the inquest, struggled to explain why the rifle which had been registered at another address had not been seized.
The coroner said the notes were a sign the teenager was struggling (file image)
He said he bought the rifle while his family lived at the other address and it should have been stored in Wanguri, another Darwin suburb.
A school counselor had assessed Grace as a low risk for suicide before her death, but her father told the inquest that the counselor had not told him his daughter was having suicidal thoughts.
However, school records indicated that the counselor planned to call Grace’s father to inform him of his daughter’s diagnosis.
Grace’s father told the inquest the family saw no signs his daughter was struggling and believed she was leading “a good life” in the Northern Territory.
“I think if you get a signal that someone is depressed or having problems, you’re lucky, you’re lucky because if you get that signal you can act on it, but we didn’t understand that at all, or if we did, we missed that,” he said.
Coronial records show there have been 52 youth suicide deaths in the Territory over the past 10 years.
The investigation is ongoing.
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