Family pursuing negligence lawsuit after son dies at Trenton high school

A Trenton, Ont., family plans to pursue a civil lawsuit over the death of their 16-year-old son after he was allegedly left unattended in a private room at a local high school earlier this month.

Landyn Ferris was a Grade 10 student at Trenton High School who had Dravet syndrome, a rare type of genetic epilepsy that can cause seizures. 

On May 14, he’d been sleeping alone inside a sensory room at the school when he was found unresponsive. It’s unclear how long he had been left unattended.

In a statement to CBC, his mother Brenda Davis said she feels “devastated and in the dark without him.” 

The family intends to pursue a civil lawsuit for negligence, while the province’s Office of the Chief Coroner investigates the death.

Ontario Provincial Police were initially investigating as well, but spokesperson Bill Dickson said they are no longer involved as there’s no indication of foul play.

‘An unspeakable tragedy,’ lawyer says

While the family is still considering the scope of the lawsuit, the school board will be one of the parties named in it, said Josh Nisker, a personal injury lawyer and founding partner at Beyond Law who’s representing them.

Before Ferris died on May 14, his mother had alerted the school that he couldn’t be left alone, Nisker said — especially while sleeping, as that’s a trigger for his seizures.

Davis would sleep in her son’s bedroom each night to ensure he fell asleep and woke up safely, he said.

“We’re currently investigating all potentially responsible parties,” Nisker said. “Ultimately there is an issue here with supervision and attention provided to this child.” 

The lawsuit has not yet been filed. Despite the ongoing coroner’s investigation, Nisker said legal action might be the family’s best chance at getting more answers.

“Sometimes it takes a tragedy like this, unfortunately, for positive change to result,” he said. “It’s an unspeakable tragedy.”

In a statement to CBC News, the Hastings and Prince Edward District School Board said that “a comprehensive review of procedures and processes is underway,” as would be the case for “any tragic event in our schools.”

The board added it would provide support for students for as long as it’s needed.

More resources, oversight needed: advocates

Ferris’s death should spark further action, said the Ontario Autism Coalition, which has long called on the province to invest more into resources for children with disabilities.

“It’s often hard to blame the educators because our schools are majorly understaffed, under-resourced,” said Kate Dudley-Logue, the coalition’s vice-president of community outreach.

When it comes to sensory rooms, Dudley-Logue said the Ministry of Education does not have a policy on their use. Instead, it’s up to individual school boards to decide how they operate.

Those rooms — which help to calm or engage students in sensory learning — can be beneficial if they’re properly set up and monitored, she said. They should be populated with equipment that encourages physical stimulation, like bean bags, mini-trampolines or rocking chairs. 

But children should never be left alone inside them, she emphasized.

David Lepofsky, chair of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance, said his organization has also been calling on Ontario to develop better policies for accessibility and safety policies for students with disabilities.

He said Ferris’s death “cries out for strong provincial action.”

“We need oversight and we need strong provincial standards,” Lepofsky said.

In a statement, Education Minister Stephen Lecce extended his “deepest condolences” to both family and friends of Ferris and the entire school board community.

“The police and school board have launched an investigation into this incident, and I know all parties will work together to ensure this tragedy does not occur again.”

‘My guiding light’

The Ontario Autism Coalition has been in contact with the family, Dudley-Logue said, initially to help them find legal support.

“All [Davis] really wants at this time is to make sure that she gets the answers that she needs and also to make sure that maybe there’s some meaning here in what happened and that this won’t happen to another child,” she said.

Parents of Ferris’s peers have started a fundraiser to help his family pay for funeral costs. Nisker said Davis is appreciative of the community support.

“He kept me soft-hearted even when I was mad at the world,” she said in her statement to CBC. “I hope I can hold onto that softness and use it as my guiding light.”