Darcy and Rihanna
Content Warning: These stories are about violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation and may include references to suicide or self-harming behaviours. They may contain graphic descriptions and strong language and may be distressing. Some narratives may be about First Nations people who have passed away. If you need support, please see Contact & support.
Rihanna’s daughter Darcy is in her 30s and lives with bipolar personality disorder.
A few years ago, Darcy nearly died from a drug overdose.
Rihanna told the Royal Commission, ‘The operator who assisted me on the triple-0 call was wonderful, although she quickly realised I was in no state to do CPR, as [Darcy] was around 100 kilos, and I just couldn’t get her on the floor.’
Rihanna said Darcy spent six days in a coma and survived thanks to the ‘attentive and committed’ paramedics and public hospital staff.
‘She was gravely ill, and I’m convinced she could not have received better care anywhere else.’
A few days after she woke up, doctors transferred Darcy to the public hospital’s psychiatric ward. She has private health insurance and the psychiatrist told her she should go to a private hospital.
‘As you can imagine, [Darcy] was in a very fragile state … It upset her greatly, and I was quite gobsmacked at the audacity of the doctor to just even bring that up. Like, within the first five minutes of meeting her, “You shouldn’t be here.” Just blows my mind.’
Rihanna said the psychiatric unit offered Darcy no treatment.
‘Nothing. I get it, it was between Christmas and New Year, and that’s a busy time, but that didn’t affect the normal hospital … These people that go into [the psychiatric unit] go there because their life is in danger, mainly because they’d tried to commit suicide, so the very vast difference I saw was the incredible help of the public hospital, and then nothing, no treatment at the psychiatric unit.’
Rihanna said the only activities offered to patients were watching television and walking the grounds, so she brought in artwork and puzzles.
When Darcy entered the psychiatric unit she complained of a headache and saw a general practitioner, but the headache didn’t go away. A psychiatrist suggested physiotherapy.
‘He suggested she phone and make an appointment with a physiotherapist and make her own way there. She was three days out of a coma, she could hardly walk and she was suicidal. And he was going to put her in a taxi.’
Rihanna noticed Darcy’s neck was swollen and told the general practitioner, who ordered an ultrasound. It revealed a large blood clot, which was treated with blood thinners.
Darcy moved to another clinic because she wasn’t getting the treatment she needed at the psychiatric unit.
Darcy is supported by the NDIS. When she was discharged a couple of months later, Rihanna said she noticed that her service provider had charged her for services Darcy hadn’t used while she was in hospital.
‘It’s just blows my mind. It’s abhorrent, disgusting. I can’t think of adjectives strong enough for how evil that is. And the sad thing is, the people I’ve spoken to have said she’s not the only one this happened to, that it’s rife.’
Disclaimer: This is the story of a person who shared their personal experience with the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability through a submission or private session. The names in this story are pseudonyms. The person who shared this experience was not a witness and their account is not evidence. They did not take an oath or affirmation before providing the story. Nothing in this story constitutes a finding of the Royal Commission. Any views expressed are those of the person who shared their experience, not of the Royal Commission.