Andrew McClain - 1998

11-year-old Andrew McClain died because the employees at the Elmcrest Psychiatric Hospital tried to restrain him. It proved to be a deathly decision. He was basically crushed to death because the employees were poorly trained to do their job. Maybe profit mattered more than the safety of the patients. We can not know.

All we know is that a family lost their boy, which should not have been the case.

When you commit your child to the hospital, you believe that your child is safe. This case proves otherwise. Please check up on your child in any residential setting.

May he find peace where he is now.

Sources:

• Andrew's Last Hours (The Hartford Courant)
• A Child Dies in State's Custody (The New York Times)
• Connecticut Examines Use of Restraint Holds on Psychiatric Patients After Death of Boy, 11 (The New York Times)
• Hospital and Employee Are Cited in Death of Boy (The New York Times)

Tristan Sovern - 1998

16-year-old Tristan Sovern died because the employees at the Charter Behavioral Health Systems tried to restrain him. Suffering from a cold it did not become easier for him to catch his breath when the employees placed bed sheet and towel over his mouth and nose. The employees were poorly trained and it saved them from criminal conviction. They simply did not know better.

So no training, equal license to kill.

Why the state did not intervene and close the hospital due to concerns of the safety of the patients is strange. No hospital should be able to operate without training their employees. The death of the boy shows that so clearly.

They managed to get away with this bad management and the family of the boy was left behind suffering from the memory of a boy who should have been given a chance to life and fulfill his destiny.

May he find peace where he is now.

Sources:

• Unsafe Haven: FAQ (CBS News)
• A mother's anguish - and a President's profits (The Guardian)
• Hospital personnel face prison for death of "restrained" patient (Google News-group)
• CHARTER AIDE DESCRIBES DEATH\ PRIOR TROUBLE WITH PATIENT IS RECOUNTED (News & Record - Greensboro)
• DA ENDS PROBE OF CHARTER PATIENT'S DEATH\ NO FURTHER CHARGES WILL BE FILED IN THE INVESTIGATION INTO TRISTAN SOVERN'S DEATH AT A GREENSBORO PSYCHIATRIC FACILITY. (News & Record - Greensboro)