Ataria Heta’s family highlights mental health gaps in the Northland investigation into suspected suicides

The lack of services in remote emergency departments, along with the limited pool of available care providers, has been highlighted in the second week of a Northland investigation into six suspected youth suicides.

Coroner Tania Tetitaha is leading a four-week investigation in Whangārei into the deaths of five young people in 2018 and one in 2020, aged between 12 and 16.

Coroner Tetitaha said it would be determined at the end of the inquest that this was the case rangatahi died by suicide and seeks solutions to barriers to accessing suicide prevention services in the North.

Last week, family members of Hamuera Ellis-Erihe, James Patira Murray, Summer Mills-Metcalf and Martin Loeffen Romagnoli gave testimony about the circumstances leading to the deaths of their children.

On Monday, Carmen and Pouaka ‘Boxer’ Heta gave a testimony about the death of their daughter Ataria Moeroa Heta in 2020.

The family had lived in the small village of Moerewa next to her grandparents for fifteen years and Ataria was “the baby of the family”.

She was a creative girl who tried everything, had a close group of friends and was once described as a standout performer at a local kapa haka competition.

“She was very likeable and quite charismatic. Very social and a point of contact for many people. She had very good character,” her mother said at the coroner’s hearing.

‘We did what we could’

In the years leading up to her death, Ataria lost her grandfather, with whom she was exceptionally close.

She also experienced a harrowing incident at a party, but it took months for Ataria to reveal what happened. Her parents immediately took action.

“Once we knew what had happened, we got her help, put her in therapy and she was often taken home by a social worker.”

Her parents said she developed anxiety after the incident and often had to deal with her alleged perpetrator as he hung around school.

“It was clearly disturbing for her.

“In a small town, things spread like wildfire,” her mother said.

A sensitive claim application was submitted to ACC and Ataria sought help from a provider in Kerikeri, but she told her mother she found the guidance boring and at the age of 16 she withdrew from the service.

“We did what we could and played the hand that was dealt at the time.

“If we had had the right doctor or professional help, we might have been able to get what she needed.”

In December 2019, Ataria self-harmed and attempted to overdose. She was taken to the Bay of Islands Hospital emergency department, where no crisis team was available. A doctor told them to take her home and keep an eye on her.

“We just did what we were told.

“We need someone there 24/7. By the time we got to the hospital, no one was there and we had been waiting for a few hours. By then they had had enough, they felt unappreciated,” her mother said.

Days later, she was prescribed Escitalopram for depression and anxiety, which she took until February before being switched to another antidepressant.

On February 29, 2020, Ataria performed kapa haka at a local event before visiting her grandmother who lived next door.

Her grandmother, Georgina, said in a statement that Ataria walked in and Georgina asked her, “What are you up to?”

“Nothing,” Ataria responded and walked outside.

Ataria died later that evening.

Although Ataria left information that she had been sad for five years, Carmen said they had no idea.

“We keep trying to find out what caused this, but we may never know,” Carmen said.

“She said she was fine… they believed her.”

Before Ataria’s death, the family had visited mental health services in Auckland and said the difference in services in the north was shocking.

“In Auckland we could say what we wanted, we had input… the process was very different.

“It’s damned up here.”

A detailed overview of the services Ataria was involved with was presented to the coroner’s court, but Carmen said the process was confusing at the time.

Pouaka said he was shocked to discover that ACC sent letters to a 16-year-old about her withdrawal from counseling and felt they should have been addressed to parents.

“I am a little puzzled as to why a letter is being sent to our daughter when it was a process initiated by us from the beginning,” he told the coroner’s court.

Carmen said her daughter was very good at telling people what they wanted to hear and believes whānau, including grandparents, should have contributed to a 16-year-old’s plan.

“Ataria told counselors she was doing well and they believed it.

“It’s about communication and everyone being on the same page as the child. The privacy issues with the confidential counselor, ACC sending letters to my daughter, it should all be collective, I think.

Pouaka also told the inquest that financial support for left-behind families was non-existent for those earning above the threshold, putting extreme pressure on those who were grieving and unable to report to work.

The hearing is expected to end in early November and will hear testimony from social workers, health and education officials.

Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.