Tragedy of fetal alcohol disorder reaches all of society

When all Winnipeg buses stopped for one minute of silence recently to honour the memory of slain transit driver Irvine J. Fraser, many of us prayed with them.

His death was, by all accounts, a senseless tragedy.

The 58-year-old transit driver was set to retire soon. He and his wife lost their daughter a few years ago.

He died serving the citizens of our city — doing a job that comes with great responsibilities and risks, and often little recognition.

And then there is the young man facing murder charges in this case, whose life is a tragic story by itself.

If reports are correct, 22-year-old Brian Kyle Thomas was born with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). He was taken from his mother at birth and spent the next 18 years in 73 foster care families. That averages out to four moves per year. On a basic level, FASD is a form of brain damage. The executive functions are affected: inhibitions, planning, consequences, perceptions, motivation and judgment.

The sad reality is that symptoms of FASD include the lack of impulse control, which means many people afflicted with the disease act with little if any thought of the consequences of their actions.

After he turned 18, Thomas was convicted of seven offences and breached probation 13 times. Now he is charged with second-degree murder, likely to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

This tragedy is an important moment for us as a society to think about how we can prevent something like this from ever happening again.

At Siloam Mission we serve many people who deal with FASD. There are many levels of the condition — in fact, you may know some people who have it but you’d never know they do.

Without trying to oversimplify the issue, the more severe the condition the less impulse control a person has. To the rest of us, it can look like just a selfish action or poor decisionmaking.

People who have severe FASD often find it difficult to maintain relationships. It is not uncommon for them to be abandoned and isolated.

Many times after an incident, those with severe FASD do not understand why what they did was wrong.

What happened in the early hours of Valentine’s Day was unconscionable - and the courts will sort out responsibility for it during the next months and years.

But the tragedy for Thomas started 22 years ago when he was born with an affliction that would filter his actions for the rest of his life.

It is estimated the costs associated with individuals with FASD in Canada range from $1.3 to $2.3 billion per year with the highest being loss of productivity, corrections and health care.

It’s clear that providing better supports for pregnant women dealing with addictions could save a lifetime of costly supports for children born with FASD -- and would do so at a fraction of the price.

In every way, FASD is a tragedy for the mother, the child, the victims of their violence and society as a whole.