Virtual walk honours lost teen and raises money for youth mental health charities vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
“It’s not that it was suicide that took Andre’s life, it was depression that took Andre’s life,” said Kirsten Marten, who is speaking on behalf of Andre’s family as they grieve. Last week Marten set up the Searching for Andre Courtemanche Facebook page, which mobilized people across Greater Victoria to search for the missing teen. The family received a call on Jan. 4, three days after Andre was reported missing, about setting up an appointment with a psychiatrist to talk about Andre’s depression, Marten said. By that time it was too late. “It’s so heartbreaking that they had to wait that long and they’ve been fighting so hard to get help for Andre,” she said. “The system categorically failed him.”