An inquest into the death of a young girl has heard how she wrote the word ‘help’ 27 times in her notebook before she took her own life.
Grace, whose full name has been suppressed, died after she shot herself with a rifle in her parent’s bedroom in the Darwin suburb of Parap on January 28, 2022.
The inquest into the 13-year-old schoolgirl’s death heard that a notebook had been discovered which showed that the teenager had been struggling for some time.
Inside the book, Grace had written the word ‘help’ 27 times among other notes which Northern Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage said the teenage girl had hidden from others, including family and friends.
‘It looks like a cry for help but it was a secret and silent cry, sadly today there are likely other children secretly and silently crying out for help,’ Ms Armitage said at the inquest, as reported by Northern Territory News.
An inquest into a young girl who took her own life has heard that she wrote the word ‘help’ 27 times in her notebook (stock image)
‘It seems to me that as a community we have to find a way to give them back their voice.’
Counsel assisting the Coroner Chrissy McConnel said Grace ‘should have had her whole life ahead of her’ when she took the gun and ended her life.
The inquest revealed details of the teenager’s death after the girl took the firearm from an unlocked cupboard inside the bedroom.
Grace’s father, who gave evidence at the inquest, struggled to explain why the rifle, which had been registered at another address, had not been secured.
The coroner said the notes were a sign the teenager was struggling (stock image)
He said he purchased the rifle while his family was living at the other address and it should have been stored at Wanguri, another suburb in Darwin.
A school counsellor who assessed Grace as being at low risk of suicide prior to her death did not alert the family that the teen had suicidal thoughts.
School records, however, indicated the counsellor planned to call Grace’s father to inform him.
Grace’s father told the inquest the family did not pick up on signs that his daughter was struggling and believed she was leading ‘the good life’ in the Northern Territory.
‘I think if you get a sign that somebody’s depressed or struggling you’re lucky, you’re lucky because if you get that sign you can act on it, but we didn’t get that at all, or if we did we missed it,’ he said.
Coronial records showed there had been 52 youth suicide deaths in the Territory in the past 10 years.
The inquest is ongoing.
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636
Kids Helpline: 1800 551 800
A two-year-old girl has died after she was found unresponsive in a hot car on a rural property in Eungella (pictured) in Central Queensland