Leaving institutionalized care changed son's life, mother tells inquiry

A Nova Scotia woman told a provincial human rights board of inquirythat leaving institutionalized care changed her son's life.

In her testimony on Thursday, Leslie Lowther recalled the lowest point in both her and her 32-year-old son's life.

"He looked at me and said, 'Mom I'm dead. I'm just dead.'"

Richard Rector had been living at Quest at the time,an adult care facility in Lower Sackville, N.S.

"As a parent with no power to help him, there's no other feeling like it," Lowther said.

The board of inquiry is hearing the case of two complainants who say the province violated their basic human rights by forcing them to live in institutionalized care instead of a smaller home with fewer residents and professional staff around the clock.

Rector is not one of those complainants.But lawyers for the Disability Rights Coalition say Lowther's testimony illustrates the effect institutionalized care has on patients.

Deep depression

Rector was in an ATV accident in 2004 when he was 18. He suffered a traumatic brain injury and doctors told his family he'd never progress beyond "an immature 18-year-old."

Rector speaks andcan walk, but his hands shake, his mother said.He can shower, shave and eat, but has a poor short-term memory. He's also prone to aggression.

Lowthersaid before her sonwas moved into institutionalized care in Lower Sackville, "We just sort of dealt with [his aggression] as it came."

Eventually, it became too much for his family and Rector was moved to Quest in 2009. Lowther told the hearing that neither he nor his family liked it.

"It's a warehouse," Lowther said. "He got into a deep depression and he didn't care. He just didn't care."

During her testimony,Lowther was asked how staff at Quest would punish her son during a fit of aggression. She testified that at times he'd be put in a locked room or had family time taken away from him.