Jaqueline McDermott from Kitchener, Ontario died near Merritt, B.C. October, 2022.
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October 14, 2022 - 7:00 AM
The family of a young woman whose body was found near Merritt earlier this month confirmed her death was by suicide.
Jaqueline McDermott, 22, tragically took her own life after battling mental health issues she kept to herself.
“She shared with no one but her journal how she struggled with a darkness that was the cost of sending out so much light,” said her mom Nathalie St-Maurice on a social media post.
“Her strength and joy masked the fear and sadness deep within her.”
McDermott had been out west for six months since she travelled across the country in a retrofitted van from her home in Kitchener, Ontario.
READ MORE: Missing woman Jaqueline McDermott: An adventurous tattoo artist from Ontario
She was reported missing Oct. 1 and was last seen on the highway near Merritt the same morning. Her body was found by B.C. Search and Rescue Teams on Oct. 8.
St-Maurice wants her daughter’s suicide story to be shared in hopes it will prompt more open conversations about mental health issues and reduce the stigma around them.
“The fact she died is horrible,” she said in a message to iNFOnews.ca. “The fact that she took her own life is shocking and needs to be shared so that another Jaqui can be saved by asking for help.”
In a post she made on her daughter’s memorial page, St-Maurice talks about a future where people can connect more deeply to the ones they love and share more openly about their “worst fears and deepest heartaches.”
“Where we look deeper and ask our loved ones how they are and we truly listen to their answers,” she wrote. “Where we put away our phones and bask in the comfort of real human connection.
“Where we trust the people we love with our darkest secrets and know that they will honour our confidence with compassion and caring — and help.”
St-Maurice describes her daughter as “a light” and someone who “believed in the goodness of people and promise of love on this earth.”
“She gave her light freely and generously to her family, her friends, her community and the world,” she wrote. “And perhaps she did not keep enough of that light for herself.
“We cannot let the memory of her fade without acknowledging the most unbearable truth: in that moment, the darkness won. She chose to leave us.”
McDermott was an artist and a traveller who was part of the tree planting and skateboarding communities. She made countless connections with others in western Canada and back home in Kitchener, Ontario, who continue to pour out memories, stories and condolences on her memorial page.
“Jaqui will no longer speak for herself,” St-Maurice wrote. “But each of you, the hundreds of people to whom she passed her light and the thousands who have been touched by our loss, can speak for her.
“Love people every day and do not let the light she gifted you be extinguished - use it as a spark to spread radiance into every part of this world. See the beauty in the people and places around you. See the beauty inside you. She is forever part of you. Look up.”
St-Maurice encourages anyone struggling with mental health issues to reach out for help.
Friends of McDermott are invited to join the family at a memorial at the Britannia Courts Skate Park in Vancouver between 3:30 and 5:30 on Monday, Oct. 17.
For friends and family in Ontario, details on a memorial will be provided at a later date.
If you or someone you know is in immediate crisis or has suicide-related concerns, call or text the Canada Suicide Prevention Helpline at 1-833-456-4566 (24/7).
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