Mum hopes inquest will help save lives

Michele Elliott hopes the inquiry into the deaths of son Jordan and four other teens will help others to recognise the danger signs. Photo / Alan Gibson

A Kawerau mother hopes a coroner's inquest into her teenage son's sudden death last year will help to save young lives.

Michele Elliott's 17-year-old boy, Jordan Gray, was one of five teenagers from around the Kawerau district to die within months of one another.

Coroner Wallace Bain will open the inquests into all five deaths in Whakatane on Monday afternoon.

It is understood no evidence will be presented to the coroner on that day, but the families of the teenagers will be given the chance to speak.

Mrs Elliott said she planned to ask questions during the inquest, which she hoped would ultimately help others to recognise danger signs.

Jordan had shown no evidence of being depressed or worried about anything before he was found dead in his bedroom last October.

He had not come out of his room after spending the previous evening at a party with friends, and Mrs Elliott sent his 14-year-old younger brother to wake him up for a meal.

Jordan was a talented youth who played and taught the drums, was keen on photography and dancing and had planned to move to Australia to live with his father when he finished school last year.

Since his death, Mrs Elliott has been working with other families affected by similar tragedies.

A support group she established in February has now been widened to welcome affected families from elsewhere in the Bay of Plenty.

Some members had lost loved ones as long as 20 years ago, but the grief was still raw, she said.

"I needed help, so I went and did stuff myself and got this under way.

"There were so many people who were grateful for it as they were having to put up with being silent about it for years and years," she said.

"Now we've got a group that supports each other because we know what each other is going through."