First Nations student deaths inquest: 'Help us,' mom pleads

The mother of one of the First Nations students who died while he was away from home attending high school in Thunder Bayis asking for help to help keep other students safe in the Ontario city.

The death of Paul Panacheese, along with thoseof six other First Nations students, is the subject ofone of the largest inquests in Ontariohistory. Itbegan on Oct. 5 and isscheduled to run through to March 2016.

All of the students, aged 15 to 21,left their remote First Nations in northern Ontario to attend high school in Thunder Bay. None of their communities have schools that go beyond grade 10. They died between 2000 and 2011.

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"As a mom you want your children to be successful and get a good education," Maryanne Panacheese said about her decision to let Paul leave his home in MishkeegogamangFirst Nation, about 300 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay, and come to the city for high school.

"I just want to say to the city of Thunder Bay, those are our kids coming out for education," Panacheese said in an exclusive interview with CBC News."I just want to tell them, can you help us.?Can you help our kids get education,because we need them in our communitiesfor things to change in our communities."

Panacheese was the first of the family members to testify at the inquest. She told the jurors the city was a difficult place forPaul as hebounced around between 10 different boarding homes while trying to get through Grades 10-12.

'Sometimes he said they were made fun of," Panacheese said of her son's reports about life as a First Nations studentin the city. "Eggs were thrown at them."

Later she said she advised him to "just co-exist with the non-natives because that's the way it's got to be."

"I told him not to ever say bad things or treat anybody bad that's not his race," she said. "I didn't want him to respond to the negative attitudes he was experiencing."

'I wanted to be with my boy'

Panacheese said sheleft her job and two other children at home in Mishkeegogamangwhile she moved to the city in 2006 for Paul's final year at school.

"I moved to Thunder Bay because I wanted to be with my boy and look after him myself," she said. "He said, 'You know mom, when I get my Grade 12, I'll be on my own.You don't have to help me,' he said, 'I'll help myself.'"

In November of 2006, Paul came home from visiting friends late at night and collapsed on the kitchen floor.

In her testimony, Panacheesespelled out in heartbreaking detail and halting words her growing panic as she realized something was terribly wrong.

She said she got a pillow and put it under her son'shead and began patting his cheeks.

"I said, 'Paul, get up, go to your bed or the couch to sleep,'" Panacheese said through tears, while many in the courtroom wiped their eyes.

Eventually, she said, she called 911. She recalled thatpolice came andthere was a trip to the hospital. Paul was dead. He was 21.

"It was hard to talk about over and over again andstill not really getting answers what really happened to my boy," she said of her hours of testimony."I don't know, maybe I'll never really find out what really happened."

A pathologist testified on Tuesdaythat Paul likely died of an undetectedhereditary heart condition. But his mother hopes the inquest will provide more than clinical details about her son and the other students who died.

"What I'm hoping for out of this inquest is changes for our studentstothe way they make sure they're safe to get their education," she said."That's what I'm really hoping for is that they'll get their education and they'll be looked after so they can go home."