A 16-year-old girl died suddenly at home Monday, one week after a head-on collision on the Saddle Lake Cree Nation reserve.
Brianna Jackson was in a van filled with children going home after trick or treating when it collided head on with another van on Halloween.
A 43-year-old woman and a 42-year-old man from Saddle Lake were pronounced dead at the scene.
Wilma Jackson, 48, said she rushed to the site of the crash and found her daughter, Brianna, covered in bruises.
Her daughter was taken to hospital but released after X-rays showed no internal injuries, Jackson said.
“That’s what I thought, that she was OK,” she said.
Daughter had stomach pains after crash
A few days after the crash, Brianna had stomach pains and her mother said she took her to the local health centre.
The doctor looked at the X-rays and told them there were no internal injuries, Jackson said.
“So I brought her home, and then she kept crying,” she said. “She was sleeping, drinking a lot of water. She just kept telling me, ‘Mommy, it hurts.’ “
Jackson asked her daughter if she wanted to go the hospital, but said Brianna refused.
“She didn’t want to go, because it’s a rough ride,” she said. “The roads are rough.”
‘My baby was on the floor already gone’1:15
On Monday, Jackson planned to go to nearby Cold Lake to run some errands.
She told her daughter she would take her to the hospital when she came back.
Before Jackson left, she said Brianna told her she loved her.
“I was hugging her and kissing her ,” said Jackson.
‘My baby’s never, ever said bye to me.’ – Wilma Jackson, mother of Brianna
Then Brianna asked her mom to stop at McDonald’s to get her a drink on the way home.
“I said, ‘OK, I’ll be back, my baby,’ ” she said.
Jackson said she then told her daughter they should just go to the hospital right away.
Brianna told her to go to town first, and they would make the trip afterwards.
“As I was walking out, she grabbed me and she goes, ‘Mom!’ And I said, ‘What?’ And she said, “bye, Mom.’ And it never meant anything. My baby’s never, ever said bye to me. It was always, ‘See ya later, woman.’ That was her word to me. And we’d laugh.”
‘They told me they couldn’t save her’
Jackson went to Cold Lake. She got a call about half an hour later from a friend staying at her home. She was told an ambulance was there and Brianna was getting CPR.
Jackson raced home.
“When I walked in, my baby was on the floor, already gone,” she said. “They told me they couldn’t save her.”
Jackson said Brianna’s older sister, Kree, had gone to get her sister a glass of ice water that morning.
When she returned, Brianna wasn’t breathing.
The friends at Jackson’s house took Brianna into the living room to perform CPR and wait for the ambulance.
Wilma Jackson [far right] with daughters Brianna [left] and Kree [centre]. (Facebook)
Jackson said she doesn’t know why her daughter died and won’t find out until an autopsy is completed.
“It was such a shock to me,” she said. “I didn’t think she would leave me. She just left me so suddenly.”
Eldest daughter died last month
Jackson was already grieving the death of her eldest daughter.
Fallon Jackson, 33, died on October 20, nine days after she gave birth to a premature baby boy, who didn’t survive.
“I just buried her on Saturday,” said Jackson.
She said her eldest daughter died of natural causes.
Brianna Jackson died one day before her 17th birthday.
She leaves behind a 16-month-old baby boy, Nathaniel.