PORT HAWKESBURY, N.S. A doctor who saw Lionel Desmond two months after he returned to Nova Scotia in 2016 told an inquiry Wednesday the former soldier was looking for help getting followup psychiatric treatment. Desmond s medical care is at the centre of the inquiry, which is trying to determine why the Afghanistan war veteran fatally shot his wife, daughter and mother inside their home in Upper Big Tracadie, N.S., on Jan. 3, 2017. Dr. Luke Harnish told the fatality inquiry that he was filling in as a physician at the Guysborough Memorial Hospital on Oct. 13, 2016 when he saw Desmond and his wife, Shanna Desmond. Harnish said it was the first and only time he saw Desmond.
Doctor tells inquiry that Lionel Desmond needed psychotherapy theglobeandmail.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theglobeandmail.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
In the four months before Lionel Desmond killed three family members and himself, the former soldier was supposed to receive therapeutic help to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder. But that never happened.
Posted: Mar 09, 2021 9:50 AM AT | Last Updated: March 10
On Jan. 3, 2017, Lionel Desmond shot his daughter, mother, wife and then himself in a home in Upper Big Tracadie, N.S. (Dave Irish/CBC)
The Lionel Desmond inquiry heard more this week about the nearly three months in which the Afghanistan veteran went without suitable followup treatment after being released from a residential psychiatric program to treat his severe post-traumatic stress disorder and major depression.
Desmond left Ste. Anne s Hospital in Montreal on Aug. 15, 2016, with a discharge plan that recommended ongoing psychological and psychiatric visits. The clinicians at the hospital told his Veterans Affairs caseworker and his community team in New Brunswick that they also felt he should get a neurocognitive assessment to see whether some of his symptoms were connected to head trauma he reportedly experienced in combat and in training.