Heartbreaking words from a mother enduring an unthinkable tragedy were shared as a statement by Brenda Ferris was read Tuesday at Queen’s Park.
Her son, Landyn Ferris, was pronounced dead on May 14 after he was found unresponsive in a sensory room at Trenton Public High School
“My last memory of Landyn is in a casket, surrounded by his favourite toys. Now I visit his grave every morning. I pick wildflowers for him alone. We used to pick flowers together now I leave them at his grave,” read the statement shared by Kate Logue with the Ontario Autism Coalition. “I am broken.”
In the statement, Ferris urged parents to hold their babies tight. “My boy is gone, his laugh is a memory, his light snuffed out too soon. I will forever be haunted.”
Landyn had a form of epilepsy that causes seizures and are often triggered by sleep so he couldn’t be left alone. It’s alleged he was left unattended on the day he was found unresponsive.
She described the horror of that day in her statement. “I walked into the classroom to find my son on a stretcher, receiving CPR, his hand hanging to the side, fingers already blue … That’s when it hit me. This isn’t seizure intervention. This is resuscitation.”
A coroner’s investigation is now underway. The school board is also investigating.
“We’ll see what the investigation says. It’s unacceptable in my opinion,” said Premier Doug Ford in his first comments on the tragic incident.
“We literally know nothing at this point so I want to avert the instinct of making assumptions,” added Education Minister Stephen Lecce. CityNews has also learned that Lecce only became aware of the incident last week after CityNews reached out to him for comment
Advocates say the Ford government shouldn’t wait for the results of the investigation to take action.
“The overall issue of the vulnerability of these kids and the lack of proper safeguards for them, it demands action” said Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance Chair David Lepofsky.
CityNews has learned that for two years, the Ministry of Education has not implemented recommendations aimed at setting and enforcing basic requirements for school boards to protect vulnerable students, including policies for the use of isolation or sensory rooms in schools.
“There’s an expectation that all school boards in Ontario have a protocol. They’re expected to follow it,” said Lecce.
Lepofsky said that is not good enough. “It should not be left to 72 school boards and God knows how many principals and teachers to have to figure out what those safeguards should be.”
There are also calls for more funding for special education. “A child with a seizure disorder such as Landyn had shouldn’t be left alone at all,” said Logue.
Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles said there is currently one special education teacher for every 85 high school students in Ontario. “That doesn’t seem like a safe ratio to me.
“I find that shameful. You don’t need a coroner’s inquest to start doing the right thing today and make sure children in our schools have the supports they need,” added Stiles.
Liberal leader Bonnie Crombie agreed. “We can’t ever let this happen again. We need to invest in education. We need more teachers in the classroom,” said Crombie.
Advocates have also called on the OPP to also investigate the incident alongside the coroner, rather than just assisting.