Below, I’m copying the e-mails and posting from Marlene Bryenton on the latest updates on this Kafkaesque adventure. This is what it takes to get one mentally ill, homeless person into hospital to receive evidence based care. Months and months of focused searching, legal efforts, police help, and the help of hundreds of compassionate people.
It is barbaric and unbecoming a supposedly first world advanced country.
And for those who suggest that being homeless on the streets of Toronto, sleeping outdoors, was a choice, please note that Andrew is beginning to improve on his medication which does work despite the alternative anti-psychiatry crowd.
Here is the e-mail that Marlene Bryenton, his mother, sent out today:
UPDATE NOVEMBER 9, 2023:
Today, I have some very thrilling news for you. Our son, Andrew, will be arriving HOME this afternoon! MAMA BEAR can hardly wait to give him a big MAMA BEAR HUG! PAPA BEAR is also very excited!
I can’t thank my husband, Lloyd, enough for taking over the chores inside and outside our home for the past year. This was to enable me to spend 10 hours per day on the computer advocating for Andrew, joining hundreds of Facebook Community Groups, sending e-mails, letters, doing interviews with the media, writing daily Facebook update reports, and responding to thousands of Facebook messages. I love you Lloyd!
I spoke with the Humber River Hospital Director of Mental Health and Addictions, Daniel Tziatis, last evening. He provided us with all the details that Health P.E.I. had made for Andrew’s medical transfer.
Andrew was picked up at the Humber River Hospital this morning and taken to the Toronto Pearson Airport. He will be coming by plane to P.E.I,. on a stretcher, accompanied by a R.N. and respiratory therapist. Andrew will have sedation for the flight. He will be transported to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown, P.E.I. under the care of his psychiatrist, Dr. Robert Jay.
I spoke with Andrew’s nurse last evening. Andrew is looking forward to coming back home to be with family. His medications are starting to give him clarity of thought. He realizes that living on the streets is not where he should be this winter. He appreciates the fact that he is in Humber River Hospital with wonderful staff, hot meals, cozy bed, private room, and showers. Many thanks to Humber River Hospital for the wonderful care Andrew has received.
This is a year long dream, that is finally coming true! We sincerely thank Minister of Health Mark McLane for signing the Ministerial Order to facilitate Andrew’s medical transfer back home to the province he loves.
Andrew has a long road to recovery and he will have the support of his parents, sister, First Baptist Church family, marathon runners, bank colleagues, baseball, bowling, basketball, and curling friends.
Lloyd and I express our sincere thanks to the thousands of people from Ontario and P.E.I. who have followed Andrew’s heartbreaking journey for the past year. Many thanks to the hundreds of people who sent photos of Andrew with date, time, and location. Also to the hundreds of people who recognized Andrew and helped him to survive on the streets of Toronto homeless, by providing food, water, money and clothing.
Special thanks to my team who worked with me daily providing support, sharing their talents, encouragement, and guidance. Also thanks to those that wrote blogs and newsletters.
A very special thank you to, Maureen Trask, Missing Persons Advocate in Ontario and to Kerry McLane, volunteer investigator with the Please Bring Me Home non-profit organization. It was Kerry who suggested that I launch the PLEASE BRING ANDREW BRYENTON HOME TO P.E.I. PETITION. It presently has 11004 signatures from caring Ontario and P.E.I. Residents.
Also many thanks to TEAM who provided me with guidance and support. They are an advocacy group for Mental Health Reform in Ontario. Special thanks to Karen Scott Booth who came to the Humber River Hospital to advocate for Andrew’s admittance.
The participants of this group include lawyers, psychiatrists, social workers, counsellors, police and parents with a vested interest in mental health.
Many thanks to a special couple in Ontario that welcomed us into their home and provided hospitality, pick up and drop off at the airport, transportation to the Toronto Court House, and transportation back and forth to visit Andrew at Humber River Hospital. They also took us for a drive around all the streets where Andrew walked thousands of kilometers. We shall never forget your kindness, generosity and love!
Also special thanks to the visitor that Andrew had throughout his hospital stay. Even though Andrew was a thousand miles away we knew and trusted this friend. He talked to Andrew for hours on his visit and took him special treats including Cadbury eggs, Cheesies, donuts, Tropicana orange juice and pizza.
Special thanks to Suzanne Dennison DCS., RP, (cert)OAMHP, Chief of Staff, Office of the Honourable Michael Tibollo, Associate Minister Mental Health and Addictions, Ministry of Health, Ontario.
Suzanne did research and sought legal opinion on the involuntary inter-provincial Ministerial Order and provided guidance.
Many thanks to Dr. Richard O’Reilly renown psychiatrist, and Dr. John Gray who provided me with a very important document titled Community Treatment Orders Evolution and Comparisons. This document was prepared FREE OF CHARGE to help Andrew, me and the P.E.I. Government initiate their first CTO in November 2023. I have been lobbying the P.E.I. Government for many months with the assistance of MLA Susie Dillon. Thank you!
This document drew attention to the fact that the proposed P.E.I. CTO has restrictions causing patients not to qualify for the CTO. It lacks flexibility and could tie the hands of the clinicians.
The Community Treatment Order is proactive, as it monitors and enforces medication for the mentally ill. It keeps people well and out of expensive hospital beds.
The two doctors highly recommend that the New Brunswick CTO be used. It is considered a modern GOLD STANDARD CTO. It best suits the needs of those that are vulnerable with mental illness and also the clinicians. It is effective and has less restrictions allowing the clinicians to best use the CTO to help those that are mentally ill.
When I was growing up my mother always told me, “Do it right the first time or don’t do it at all.” I hope that the P.E.I. Government will copy and paste the New Brunswick CTO because Islanders need and deserve the GOLD STANDARD CTO!
Special thanks to all the police officers that helped support us over the past 12 months. Many thanks to the Justice of the Peace officials who granted our Form 2 applications to take Andrew to hospital.
I am sorry if I have forgotten to thank someone. I have a very special pillow with Grateful, Thankful and Blessed, which sits on my kitchen chair. It was a gift from a very special friend. It is how I feel today.
I would like to introduce ANDREW’S ANGEL PROJECT. Andrew will need lots of encouragement and support to stay on his medications. He does not realize the love, compassion and care that Ontario and P.E.I. residents gave him. I would like you to let him know by sending letters or cards. Here is the address: Queen Elizabeth Hospital, 60 Riverside Drive, P.O. Box 6600, Charlottetown, P.E.I. C1A 8T5.
There have been hundreds and hundreds of people praying for a MIRACLE for Andrew. God made a way! This song has helped me throughout the past months. It is titled GOD WILL MAKE A WAY! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zo3fJYtS-o
Later, Marlene posted this on her facebook page:
Andrew’s plane arrived at 1:30p.m. Thursday, November 9, 2023. He was met by an E.M.S. ambulance. We asked the driver to stop on the way out of the airport gate, so that we could welcome Andrew home. We told him that we love him.
The paramedic opened the ambulance door and Andrew was seated in the ambulance. He gave us each a wave and said hello. We can tell that he is still very ill. Andrew will be assessed at the Q.E.H. and admitted.
WELCOME HOME ANDREW WE LOVE YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK!
Lloyd and I are thrilled to have Andrew home. We look forward to seeing him at the hospital later today. We realize this is the first step of Andrew’s recovery on P.E.I.
We are so thankful that God has granted our miracle!