Sharon Turcott is Savannah Meadows’ mother. To honour Savannah’s legacy, Sharon continues to advocate for access to MAID for those whose sole underlying condition is a mental disorder by sharing her story.  

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Savannah suffered from “severe mental anguish” since she was four years old and was never able to find any treatment or medication that worked for her. She said nothing was able to get rid of her “ever-constant, ever-growing pain” even though she’d had plenty of psychological treatment in her life. 

Savannah courageously shared her story publicly, in part to educate people about mental illness. In an interview with Barrie Today she said, “I’m sure you can understand that some mental health issues are so severe and the pain they cause so great that they cannot be effectively treated or cured. When a person is in immense mental pain and no treatment can help them, under the current system people are left to suffer grievously, which is cruel and unusual punishment. We care more for animals in pain, when we dispatch them to end their suffering, than we do for human beings.” 

Savannah had no relief from her enduring pain. After careful consideration she came to the conclusion the option best for her was medical assistance in dying (MAID), and she was waiting for mental illness to become one of the eligible medical conditions. 

When Savannah found out that the federal government was going to delay the MAID expansion by one year she was devastated. She couldn’t stop crying, she wouldn’t eat, she basically just shut down. She had one dream, and that was to end her constant pain by dying with dignity. She wanted to be surrounded by her loved ones. She wanted to be able to say “see you later” to everyone, and her loved ones to say it back to her. Her greatest wish was for her death to mean life for someone else; Savannah wanted to be an organ donor. 

Savannah didn’t want to die by suicide, and she didn’t want to die alone, but the federal government took that choice from her. They made the decision to delay MAID for those whose sole underlying condition is mental disorder without any regard for the individuals impacted by this heartless decision. They also made this decision without any input from those people suffering grievously, and with irremediable mental illnesses. 

Savannah and I had a wonderful lunch together on Monday, October 2, 2023.  When she left me, she was all smiles, and I thought she had really turned a corner.  Everything was right in my world, until the next morning when it wasn’t. I received a “scheduled” email that said, “if I was reading this, it meant she was probably on her way to heaven.” 

Suicide is gut wrenching. Suicide is traumatizing. Suicide is shocking. Suicide is not the way a loved one should die. Savannah’s only goal in the latter part of her life was to reach the MAID finish line, but our cowardly government moved the goalposts. In her own words, “I wish to advocate for others like me who suffer immensely and without any relief. I wish to be the voice, the poster girl for MAID for mental health.” 

Savannah lost her fight by suicide Tuesday, October 3, 2023.  I fully intend to carry on that fight in Savannah’s memory, and for all the other “Savannahs” out there. 

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Savannah’s story was also published in the National Post on March 2, 2023, and in BarrieToday on February 3, 2023.