Family seeks closure after rehab death
There is no word in the vocabulary to describe losing a child. The grief never leaves you, you lose a piece of yourself, says Susan Williams.
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“There is no word in the vocabulary to describe losing a child. The grief never leaves you, you lose a piece of yourself.”
That’s how Cape Town mother, Susan Williams, feels, after being in KwaZulu-Natal this week to attend the inquest into her daughter Blair Trouchet’s unexplained death at the South Coast Recovery Centre five years ago.
And it’s been a long agonising five years for the Trouchet family as each tried to come to terms with Blair’s death.
Blair, 26, was admitted to the rehabilitation centre for a heroin addiction on Sunday, February 20, 2011, and died on Wednesday, February 23.
Speaking at a Durban beachfront hotel earlier this week, before the inquest which started on Tuesday in Port Shepstone, Williams said: “For the first three months after her death, I just couldn’t cope at all.
“I blanked myself at first with medication, it took the razor edge off the whole experience. But then I became sick and tired of not feeling and came off the medication.
“I was able to go through all the motions of grief, but in reality there is no word in the vocabulary or an adjective to describe what it is to lose a child. The grief never leaves you,” said Williams.
Sitting together, Blair’s parents, her sister, Loren, and favourite aunt Lucy recalled Blair’s work as a stylist in Cape Town and her vibrant personality.
“She loved life. She was eccentric, loud, funny and a great organiser. She always organised the family get-togethers and always stole the show,” said her mother.
Blair’s father, Glen Trouchet, said not a day went by when he didn’t think about her.
While he and Blair’s mother, Williams divorced a number of years ago, they were always there for their two daughters and son, Logan.
Blair’s family want answers as to how and why their daughter died and this week’s hearings saw the last three witnesses give evidence.
This is the seventh time the family had attended the inquest, which started in 2014.
Blair was found unresponsive by centre staff and was taken to the Netcare Margate Hospital.
The inquest has centred on the cause of death and any possible negligence on the part of the centre.
The next hearing, set down for September, will see final arguments for both sides.
Glen Trouchet said yesterday: “We have spent a lot of time fighting this case. I believe in the justice system. We will be back in September, we will fight to the very end.”
The family’s legal team is headed by advocate Kenny Oldwadge alongside Darryl Reece of Fairbridges, Wertheim Becker. Oldwadge was on the defence team with Barry Roux in the Oscar Pistorius case.
Reece said yesterday: “The witnesses, including the factual and medical expert witnesses, have completed their evidence.
The matter has been postponed for the purpose of filing heads of argument with the inquest magistrate, and then for argument itself.”
A spokesperson for the South Coast Recovery Centre (SCRC), who did not want to be named, said: “The SCRC is pleased that the inquest, which has been ongoing since 2013, is drawing to a close, thereby offering much-needed closure to all involved.
“Various medical experts have given differing views on cause and mechanism of death, indicating that determining the cause of death is very complex.
“We extend our sincere condolences to the Trouchet family.”
The spokesperson added that “SCRC remains a rehabilitation facility rated as a benchmark’ facility by the Department of Social Development and prides itself on being a centre with excellent standards”.
Independent on Saturday