Evander Daniels' father prepares to sue province over tot's death

Chris Martell can no longer bring himself to take a bath.

"It's the hardest thing I've got to go through, I can't even give my daughter a bath," he said. Nor his other two surviving children.

It stirs too many awful memories, brings too many painful feelings to the surface.

His aversion is just one of the many outward signs of the post-traumatic stress disorder he said he suffers from, after the death of his son Evander Lee Daniels, and his fight with Saskatchewan's Ministry of Social Services for answers.

Evander Lee Daniels is 22-month-old child who died nearly five years ago, after being placed in an overcrowded foster home.

It's burned in my mind forever- Chris Martell, father of Evander Lee Daniels

His foster mother left him unattended in a bathtub, with about five centimetres of water and the taps turned off. He was found by his foster father with his face down in the tub, the taps running. He died shortly after being rushed to hospital, his skin scalded. The Coroner determined he died from drowning.

"When I went to the funeral home it was an awful sight to see, I wasn't prepared for that at all, it's burned in my mind forever," Martell recalled, tears welling up.

The foster mother stood trial for criminal negligence causing death, and was acquitted. An appeal by the Crown was later withdrawn. Shortly after that, the foster mother died.

Earlier this month the province's Advocate for Children and Youth, Bob Pringle released a scathing report. Among other findings, he condemned the Ministry for pushing the boy's father, Martell to the side. Pringle also found plenty to condemn in the Ministry's handling of Evander's case.

Can't sleep, can't work

Martell said everything — his son's horrible death, the trial, the Ministry's stonewalling before and after the death — contributed to his PTSD, which has rendered him unable to work.

He has sleepless nights, two or three in a row sometimes. Anxiety. Short term memory loss.  He pushes loved ones away. Got divorced. Ruined his credit.

"I'm very irritable all the time, and little noises set me off, little noises here and there, like somebody yells my name, or a dog barks beside me, or something drops on the floor," Martell explained.

He said he is getting treatment, partly through Social Services, but there is a cap on what will be provided. He wants to go to a PTSD clinic in Calgary, whatever it will take to get his life back.

Lawsuit pending

It's one of the reasons he is preparing a lawsuit.

"I have survivor's guilt right now. I don't feel like I should be even here."

Martell also said he is suing the government to push it to make changes, so what happened to both his son and him will never happen again. He said his decision came "as soon as they said that they were at fault and that it was preventable".

Nothing has been filed in court yet, but his lawyer's assistant confirmed a statement of claim is being drafted.

The other outward sign of Martell's suffering are his many tattoos — all of which he got after Evander's death, trying to deal with the pain. None of them bear Evander's name, but the one on his left hand reads: "Life Goes On". 

"Whenever I feel sad I look at it."

His hope for his life after recovery:  "Show my kids how strong I was, that I survived. Show them 'never give up'."