EXCLUSIVE: 'They let my child down': Mother's outrage as her Indigenous daughter, 17, falls from a cliff just hours after being discharged from hospital - in the middle of an Aboriginal teen suicide crisis
- Teenager lucky to be alive after plunging from a Sydney headland on January 19
- 'I don't want to slam the hospital ... I do believe they have let my daughter down'
- She was admitted to hospital suffering a mental health crisis then discharged
- Five Indigenous teenage girls died over a two week period in January
- 'Our people are taking their own lives at more than double the rest of Australia'
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the crisis 'breaks my heart as a parent'
A mother is furious her daughter, 17, was discharged from a hospital mental health ward just hours before she plunged from a cliff.
The Indigenous teen fell off a rock platform at Coogee Beach, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, about 1pm on January 19.
The fall came on the same day she was released from Prince of Wales Hospital, where she was admitted overnight for mental health treatment.
The horrifying incident comes amid a national suicide crisis among Indigenous young people.
'I don't want to slam the hospital for this ... but I do believe they have let my daughter down,' the girl's mother told Daily Mail Australia.
'She just wasn't safe enough to discharge.'
Channel Seven news footage captured the moment rescue workers winched the girl to safety from the bottom of cliffs at Coogee Beach, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, on January 19
Dramatic Seven Network footage captured the moment the teenager was rescued and choppered to Sydney's Royal North Shore hospital.
She is extremely lucky to be alive, suffering a fractured spine and ankles. One requires surgery.
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The girl has Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) - a mental disorder where people react to situations in intense and emotional ways - and has had several suicidal crises.
Her mother asked for the family not to be named but wanted to share their plight with Daily Mail Australia to expose the faults in the mental health care system.
'My daughter has been going around in circles with this system since 2015 and nothing has changed,' she said.
'We are caught up in an endless cycle of self harm, suicide attempts, hospital presentations and community appointments.'
'ONCE I'M GONE, THE RACISM WILL STOP': THE FACTS ABOUT THE INDIGENOUS SUICIDE CRISIS
Legacy: The mother came forward with her concerns about the mental health system after the death of Perth girl Rochelle Pryor, who died last month (pictured)
The mother was prompted into coming forward with the story of her daughter's plight after the suicide of Indigenous teen Rochelle Pryor, 14.
Rochelle's father found her unconscious in her bedroom on New Year's Day and she died nine days later.
The Perth girl had sent friends a message on social media saying: 'Once I’m gone, the bullying and the racism will stop.'
Like Rochelle, the girl who fell from the cliff in Coogee is Indigenous, although it's not clear whether bullying or racism played a role.
Suicide Prevention Australia director Dr Vanessa Lee said self harm in Indigenous young people 'is a crisis.
'I think people forget Indigenous people make up three per cent of the whole population,' Dr Lee said.
'When you think of the age bracket population for youth, it's not a big population .
'It's a massive issue, and it's not a competition.
'Indigenous suicides in Australia, for our youth, are amongst the highest in the world.'
Indigenous kids aged five to 17 are five times more likely to die from self harm than other Australians the same age. Meantime, Indigenous people aged 15 to 34 are three times more likely to die by suicide.
Over just two weeks in January, five girls, aged between 12 and 15, died in suspected suicides, including Rochelle Pryor, and girls from Port Hedland, Adelaide and Warnum in the East Kimberley.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said the crisis 'breaks my heart as a parent'. Indigenous Health Minister Ken Wyatt last week announced a series of measures to tackle the crisis.
Mr Wyatt said the government had committed to investing $1.45 billion to commission mental health and suicide prevention services that were 'regionally and culturally appropriate'.
The government will fast-track a school-based mental health education program in the Pilbara and the Kimberley. It will also invest $2.3 million for depression charity Beyond Blue to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander communities.
'These are tragic events which have devastating consequences for families and communities,' Mr Wyatt said.
'I believe we can collectively make a difference if we do things with and not to our people, to close the gap on this tragic issue.'
Health expert Dr Lee said while it's one thing to set aside money, it's another to make the people spending it accountable. She is calling for a National Indigenous Suicide Prevention Strategy.
The Prince of Wales called the mother the day her daughter was discharged to advise her of the girl's release.
The mother was furious, angrily accusing the hospital of breaching their duty of care.
Her daughter told her: 'I told you mum, I can't do it anymore, I need help!'
The mother said: 'We have been forced to watch on as the mental state of our beautiful child deteriorates.
'Our lives have been turned upside down by this disorder and to be told that there is nothing that mental health can do is not acceptable.'
Doctors are advised against long-term hospital admissions for sufferers of Borderline Personality Disorder.
Coogee Beach was nearly the scene of tragedy on January 19 after the girl fell off a cliff
The girl, 15, was discharged from Prince of Wales hospital following a crisis - and then plunged off a cliff
'Admissions to hospitals or other inpatient facilities should not be used as a standard treatment for BPD and should generally only be used as short-term stays to deal with a crisis when someone with BPD is at risk of suicide or serious self-harm,' a BPD Foundation document said.
The mother acknowledged doctors were limited in the treatment they could provide but said her daughter often could not get a bed when she needed to go to hospital.
'This crisis admission was necessary and clearly her crisis was not resolved with an overnight stay in a hospital bed,' she said.
She said the 'best practice treatment' wasn't working for her daughter 'and we are watching her life suffer as a result'.
Over the years treating her daughter's disorder, she has noticed mental health wards have a 'serious lack of resources'.
'The mental health system in Australia is seriously inadequate and it blows me away that in a country like ours we are being told there is nothing more we can do,' the mother said.
'The suicide rates will continue to climb because people can't access adequate treatment.'
For confidential support call the Lifeline 24-hour crisis support on 13 11 14 or Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800
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