Transgender boy’s aunt speaks out as suicide expert visits Cape Breton
Justin Newell was a prankster who loved to play tricks on his family, crack jokes and tell silly stories. But the 13-year-old transgender boy took his own life June 3 in a heartbreaking suicide, one of three that have shaken his Cape Breton community.
“It was such a big shock,” his aunt Steph Melski said Tuesday from her Sydney, N.S., home that she shared with Justin. “It seemed like he was doing so well. He was transgender and was just really coming into his own.”
In response to the rash of teen suicides, the Nova Scotia government dispatched mental health expert Dr. Stan Kutcher to the region.
During a three day fact-finding mission this week, Kutcher is meeting with families, school staff and the community in town hall-style forums to determine what the issues are and how the province can better address the needs of Cape Breton youth.