Help Us Before It's Too Late

It’s difficult to imagine a more desperate situation or a more desperate mother. For 33 years Yvette Nichol did her very best to look after and raise her intellectually disabled son. But as they both got older, she needed to know he’d be cared for when she was gone. Try as she might to get help, it never came, so fearing he had no reasonable future, Yvette did something shocking and deeply troubling. She attempted to kill her child and herself. In a remarkably candid interview with Liz Hayes, Yvette explains what drove her to the brink, and how her drastic action has exposed a shameful truth about the ongoing care of disabled Australians.

Reporter: Liz Hayes

Producer: Sean Power