EDMONTON — One of three girls who became seriously ill after taking unknown drugs on the weekend has died.
Dennis Paul, spokesman for the Paul Band First Nation, says the girl, who has been identified as Trinity Bird, had been on life support at Edmonton’s Stollery Children’s Hospital.
Trinity’s great-uncle, Lloyd Saulteaux, says the situation is “really, really sad.”
He says a second girl is still in a coma and in “really rough shape” while the third girl, his granddaughter, is in stable condition and walking around.
The girls were part of a group of up to nine youths who had taken the drug near where a wedding was taking place on the reserve west of Edmonton.
When people heard that the teens were in trouble, the festivities were abruptly halted as wedding-goers rushed to their aid.
Four girls were taken to hospital, but one was treated and released shortly after.
Some members of the community said they believed the drugs were laced with rat poison.
RCMP were advised that traces of the street drug ecstasy were found in the teens, but no form of poison was found, said RCMP Cpl. Wayne Oakes.
It is still unknown where the drugs came from.
A six-member drug strategy unit was assembled Tuesday morning to help students within the Parkland School District cope, said team leader Deanna Ledoux.
“It was identified by some teachers and staff that a lot of the kids were talking, even kids as young as Grade 1 and 2, about what happened,” Ledoux said, adding that some of the students are relatives or friends of the girls in hospital.
“The teachers weren’t sure how to address it with them.”
The team will be out in full force this week to continue debriefing and providing counselling to students.