Johnny Bentley-Cribb and his dad Mario Cribb. Photo / Supplied
Johnny Bentley-Cribb and his dad Mario Cribb. Photo / Supplied
A Māori student who won a $25,000 scholarship plans to use the money to fix a broken system that failed his father who died in a mental health hospital.
St Patrick’s Silverstream, Wellington, student Johnny Bentley-Cribb was one of the five recipients of a Te Ara a Kupe Beaton scholarship, announced on Tuesday.
Johnny was just 11 years old in 2017 when his father Mario Cribb died in Wellington Hospital’s mental health unit.
Johnny blames the mental health and justice systems for his dad’s untimely death.
Cribb was admitted to hospital under the Mental Health Act on August 18, 2017, after being picked up by an ambulance, high on cannabis and having damaged his ankle while playing chicken on the road.
As well as treating his mental health, doctors gave Cribb opiate pain medication codeine for the injury. One week after being picked up, on August 25, 2017, Cribb was found unresponsive and could not be resuscitated. He died from opioid toxicity.
The whānau are still wanting answers on how Cribb got the opioids and who is responsible.
Cribb’s death has haunted Johnny, but it has also made the high-achieving student more committed to effecting change to outdated systems that are not fit for purpose.
“One of the biggest things that’s happened in my life was my dad passing away in the Wellington mental health unit,” the year 13 student said.
“That’s kind of defined my journey and ultimately why I even applied for this scholarship in the first place, which is to change the mental health system. That’s my big goal and what I’m working towards.
“It has definitely motivated me, especially now” Johnny told the Herald.
“It has built up and built up to where I am now.”
Johnny said the death of his dad had such a massive effect on him, his mum and his dad’s whānau. Cribb had told whānau that all he ever wanted was to be at his son Johnny’s 21st.
Mario Cribb. Photo / Supplied
“I was in intermediate and I didn’t really understand what this was. I was just a kid really. I was 11 and I didn’t know what this meant for me. And navigating, that was obviously challenging, but I ultimately came to a crossroads where I had to decide I can either sit with this for 10 years, trying to work out what it means, or I can take it as it is and try and create positive change from that and try and make sure that this doesn’t happen to anyone else in the future.”
Making real change to a mental health system that will save lives is what motivates Johnny.
Year 13 student Johnny Bentley-Cribb. Photo / Supplied
“I have seen the system fail my dad, but also fail so many other people,” Johnny said.
“This scholarship is obviously specifically for Māori and Pacifica students. And when I think about the mental health system, it is Māori and Pacifica people who suffer the most at the hands of it because it is ultimately a western system that is designed not to benefit indigenous cultures.
“I think there’s some serious fundamental change that needs to occur within that area.”
Safe to talk (sexual harm): Call 0800 044 334 or text 4334
All services are free and available 24/7 unless otherwise specified.
For more information and support, talk to your local doctor, hauora, community mental health team, or counselling service. The Mental Health Foundation has more helplines and service contacts on its website.
