Erratic behaviour alarmed friends
Sara Carlin's downward spiral included a mix of alcohol, drugs and talks of death
Erratic behaviour alarmed friends. Sara Carlin File photo Related Stories •Sara Carlin inquest begins
The theories differ as to why, but Sara Carlin changed drastically in the year leading to her suicide.
This sudden change in behaviour was reported by a number of Sara's close friends, Tuesday, during the second day of a coroner's inquest into the young woman's death.
Sara, who was only 18 when she passed away, hanged herself in the basement of her family home on May 6, 2007.
At the time of her death, Sara had been taking the powerful anti-depressant Paxil, which Health Canada has issued advisories for producing suicidal thoughts in adolescents.
The Ontario Coroner's Office is holding an inquest to examine what led to Sara’s suicide and to see if similar deaths can be prevented in the future.
The second day of the inquest began with the Coroner's Counsel Michael Blain calling on Carlin's ex-boyfriend Rob Desimo to testify.
Desimo started dating Sara in 2004 and described her as being a really fun person to be around. He said she was athletically inclined and also very intelligent. She would occasionally help him with his studies even though he was a grade ahead of her.
Desimo said they would go to house parties and they would drink, but said Sara would drink no more than anyone else.
All this changed in 2006 when Desimo said he broke up with Sara due to her increasingly erratic behaviour.
"I couldn't trust her anymore," he said. "She just became a different person."
Desimo said he and Sara were fighting all the time. He said she appeared to be doing things just to get under his skin.
He said Sara began to abuse drugs despite knowing Desimo had a problem with that.
Further behavioural changes surfaced during a Carlin family trip to Palm Springs, which Desimo was invited to join.
"During the trip, she really didn't want to do anything. She just wanted to sleep all day," he said.
Desimo said Sara drank heavily during the trip.
Despite breaking up with her, Desimo kept in touch with Sara until her death.
He said her priorities had completely changed when she returned home after an incident at Western University in November of 2006.
Sara had been attending the university to become a dermatologist, but was talking in November about becoming a flight attendant or getting a job with Molly Maid.
When told by the family’s' lawyer Gary Will that Carlin had begun taking Paxil in February 2006, Desimo noted that was around the time the two started drifting apart.
On cross-examination, GlaxoSmithKline (Paxil manufacturer) lawyer Teresa Walsh asked Desimo if Sara had said anything about Paxil making her fell better.
"She just said she needed her pills," he responded.
read on - http://www.insidehalton.com/news/article/830863--erratic-behaviour-alarmed-friends
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