INOLA, Okla. — Losing her son Brian left Debbie Fleming feeling 20% less of who she once was.
He was her second born of five children, and struggled with mental health most of his life.
At the age of 12, Fleming said Brian overdosed on K2 and was never the same. From then on, she said he was in and out of hospitals for the remainder of his life.
"He would walk in and say ‘I want to die,’ and they would treat him appropriately," said Fleming. "The minimum he was ever kept was 48-72 hours. That was the average, which is normal for a suicide hold."
That is, until Brian's last stay in February 2019.
“I’m told the nurses do a lot of listening and I know that that helped because every other time that he was discharged, he didn’t go through with his thoughts and that was very helpful," his mother saif. "He usually came home between hospitalizations and then he didn’t."
On February 17, 2019, Brian checked himself into an emergency facility. He told physicians he was paranoid and delusional.
The intake notes were entered at 7:57 PM. The discharge notes were entered at 11:56 the next morning.
"You have to be a danger to yourself or a danger to others because they don’t have the space to take in people who are having a bad day, so it needs to be a crisis," said Fleming. "He was obviously admitted because he was not okay, he was a danger to himself. And yet he was discharged 13 hours later, overnight, so he slept, woke up and was discharged. No treatment, wasn’t seen, wasn’t addressed. There’s no notes between the admit notes and the discharge notes, so that means nobody talked to him and then they discharged him."
He was dead the next day.
“What good did 13 untreated hours do? Because what my son did was he walked out of that place and he died in a car accident, which was very likely intentional, given that he had informed that same hospital of his intention to walk into oncoming traffic."
Debbie shared records with 2 News that do show Brian having a history of reporting suicidal ideation of walking into oncoming traffic.
He was hit and killed crossing I-44.
“My son went there for treatment, he was given none," said Fleming. "He didn’t have a chance. Every other time, and there were hundreds and I do mean hundreds, he was given a chance. They gave him the time, they talked to him, they let him talk it out, they gave him counseling, therapy, psychiatric treatment, medication, whatever it took… he didn’t go through with his thoughts. It worked, so on what planet is 13 hours of time okay without treatment in an emergency life-threatening situation?"
More than two years since losing her son, Fleming still copes with his loss every day.
But she credits her faith to her ability to stay standing.
“I’m 20% less than what I once was," she said. "I feel like it’s a lot bigger. You don’t wake up knowing your child is dead. You have to wake up and at some point remember, whether that’s while you’re drinking your coffee or brushing your teeth. That’s hard."
Fleming said she has tried to get ahold of the discharging physician to understand why her son was released so quickly and without intervention.
She said she's been directed to the hospitals attorneys, who support their physician's decision. But, it's not about money for Fleming.
This is about closure and keeping this heartbreak from tearing apart another family.
“I miss him," said Fleming. "I wish he could have been fixed and been better. I don’t know that it ever would have happened, I don’t know if he ever would have gotten just worse but we’ll never know. My goal is to stop another mom from feeling the way I do, to stop another mom from getting that knock on the door."
If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out and ask for help. The Suicide Prevention Hotline can be reached by call or text at 9-8-8.
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