Parents fight for change after 13-year-old girl dies in B.C. homeless camp

Brianna MacDonald died last month in an Abbotsford, B.C., homeless camp. She was just 13 years old.

Her death was caused by a suspected overdose, according to her family. And her grieving parents are urging change so other families don’t have to face what they are going though.

Brianna’s mom said despite the family’s ongoing attempts to get her help for her addictions and mental health issues, their pleas were ignored in a system they said failed Brianna at every turn.

“She was robbed of so much, way too young,” said Brianna’s tearful mother, Sarah MacDonald.

Brianna’s story is tragic and complex. Her mom said her daughter started smoking pot at just 10-and-a-half years old.

“I got very upset with her. We had many talks about why it was dangerous and how she was way too young,” recalled Sarah MacDonald.

By age 12, Brianna was using a drug known as “molly.” And family said the more they tried to get her to stop, the more it seemed she wanted to use.

“I think a lot of the reasons she was doing the drugs was the mental health problems she was having, and she was trying to drown them with drugs,” MacDonald said.

Family said that despite Brianna’s age, she had accessed Fraser Health-supplied drug paraphernalia including needles, naloxone kits and pamphlets on how to use safely.

But her family said what they instead wanted from Fraser Health was to get their daughter treatment.

“(Children) are not able to buy alcohol, they are not able to buy marijuana at the marijuana store, they can’t buy cigarettes, but they can have access to crack pipes and kits to be able to do safe injection? It’s just wrong,” said her step-father Lance Charles.

Brianna’s mom said that in February, her daughter was hospitalized for a suspected overdose and ended up first at BC Children’s Hospital and then was transferred to a child psychiatric ward at Surrey Memorial.

“I begged them not to let her leave. I mean, I begged them and so did her dad. And we tried really hard. We said she’s not mentally capable. She was sticking pencils through her hand when she was in the psych ward there,” her mom said.

The family wanted her held involuntarily so she could get the help they said she desperately needed.

But the family said they were told Brianna had the right to decide herself, despite her only being 12 years old at the time.

“The parents have to be able to mandate that the kids stay there,” said her dad, Jesse Griffith.

“She’s 12. She’s my legal responsibility so how come I don’t have the right to say she needs to stay here?” her mom added.

They said despite their objections, Brianna was discharged.

Some months later, she became violent at home and her mom ended up in hospital. Her mom said with other children at home, she couldn’t keep Brianna there if she was using.

Brianna was moved to a youth centre in Abbotsford, but ran away. She ended up living in a now-dismantled Abbotsford homeless camp.

She died inside her tent, her parents receiving the heartbreaking news in late August.

“I thought no, this isn’t possible,” her mom said through tears.

Despite the difficulties Brianna faced, her mom described her daughter as sweet and kind. The two still texted or spoke every day and her mom would visit her at the camp.

But the family said despite their love for Brianna and her love for them, it was not enough to stop the demons of addiction and mental illness that stole her childhood and ultimately her life.

“She had such a hard life for such a little girl,” her grieving mom said.

The family is calling on government to support involuntary treatment and to do more to protect children like Brianna.

In a statement to CTV News, Fraser Health said it’s saddened by the child’s death.

“While we will not speak to the specifics of her care, Fraser Health and provincial partners are working to review her care journey. We believe it is crucial to honour her memory by carefully examining what happened, learning from this tragedy, and working together to ensure that such a heartbreaking loss doesn't happen again,” the statement reads.

Fraser Health also said that, “as with any medical intervention, decisions about how best to treat a young person who is struggling with substance use or mental health challenges are made by health care providers, guided by B.C.’s mature minor consent rules under the Infants Act.

Fraser Health also said that their records indicate only Narcan was provided to the family, but Brianna’s parents said their daughter had other drug paraphernalia from the health authority.