Warning: This story deals with suicide. If you or someone you know has been struggling with mental health, you can find resources for help at the bottom of this story.
The psychiatrist who treated Colton Clarkin during his stay at the Hillsborough Hospital says he was “flabbergasted” when he learned his patient had died by suicide after running off from the facility’s grounds in July 2023.
Dr. Declan Boylan spent more than four hours testifying before the coroner’s inquest into Clarkin’s death on Thursday, detailing what happened during the 10 months he treated Clarkin in the psychiatric hospital after he was sent there by the province’s Criminal Code Review Board.
“I was absolutely flabbergasted when he died,” Boylan told the inquest jurors.
“I found Colton such a nice man to work with. Though he had major problems with addictions, he was trying his best. It was a huge disappointment we did not …