Sherri Kannick describes hearing about the final moments before her daughter, Breanna Kannick, died while in custody at the White Birch Remand Unit as "heartbreaking," and said it tears her apart every time.
"I could see her suffering," Sherri said on Tuesday, the second day into the latter half of an inquest in Regina, which resumed this week.
Breanna was taken into custody at the Regina remand centre for failing to appear on drug possession charges. She died on the day she was scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 20, 2015.
It's believed that Breanna was suffering from opioid withdrawal at the time of her death.
Those in attendance at the inquest heard how Breanna was vomiting while she was in custody, that two bags of vomit were removed from her cell in the hours leading up to her death.
"[Breanna] should have been able to see a doctor when she asked to see a doctor," Sherri said.
Sherri said her daughter needed more empathy, "somebody who cared."
She would like to see more staff on site in general, a Registered Nurse instead of a psychiatric nurse, and protocols to follow when dealing with opioid withdrawal when the jury makes its recommendations.
An opioid withdrawal policy went into effect at the White Birch Remand Unit and Pine Grove Correctional Centre on Monday, Saskatchewan's two corrections centres for women.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said the timing was coincidental — that the government would like to avoid any more deaths in custody if they could help it.
"They didn't help her," Sherri said.