A LITTLE BIT OF CLOSURE

AMHERST -- It has been just over eight months since Joan Cadman's life
was shattered when her 19-year-old son Brent died suddenly.

Aside from having to deal with the loss of her son, who she calls her
little angel, Cadman and her family have had to live through rumours
that both alcohol and drugs were involved in Brent's death and feel as
though a tremendous weight has been lifted off their shoulders now
that the autopsy report shows neither were a factor.

"It has given me closure," she said while studying the medical
examiner's report into Cadman's death on June 4, 2005. "Brent was my
life, I lived for him and knowing that drugs and alcohol were not
involved just means so much to me and my family."

In the days following Cadman's death, rumours began circulating around
the school and the community that the popular Grade 12 student had
taken ecstasy and alcohol on the night of his death. It's something
that haunted the family in the time between his death and their
receiving his autopsy report -- something they were constantly
reminded of when they were out in the community.

"People would come up to me and say it's a shame Brent had to go that
way," she said. "I would look at Brent's picture and say "why, why,
why did you do it? I was blaming myself because I wondered if there
was something I did wrong. When I first looked at the autopsy report I
looked up and there was a picture of Brent giving me the thumbs up as
if to say 'I'm alright mom.'"

Cadman, who lived through every parent's nightmare when she found her
son's body, said she had to know how Brent died and received a copy of
the autopsy report on Jan. 19.

Upon receiving it immediately went to her son's grave to apologize for
thinking that maybe the rumours were right.

"He doesn't deserve these rumours," she said, pointing out that no one
can know what it's like to lose a son or daughter until they have
experienced it for themselves.

According to the autopsy report, Cadman had no drugs in his blood or
urine and just minimal amounts of alcohol, lower than the legal limit
for operating a motor vehicle. The cause of death was ruled accidental
by positional asphyxiation with a piece of vegetable matter found in
his lung tissue, meaning he had aspirated it.

When the autopsy report first arrived, Cadman said she didn't want to
read it because she was scared of what it would say and was afraid it
would prove the rumours true.

"I didn't want to read it. I was scared. My dad opened it and read it
and my mother called me to tell me that I would like what it said,"
she said, adding that even though the autopsy showed drugs weren't
involved she feels as though she knows what it is like to lose a child
to drugs. "It's the best piece of news I have had since Brent's death.
There haven't been a lot of opportunities to smile since then, but
this gives me a little bit of closure."