MacKay apologizes to dead soldier’s family

Sheila Fynes says the military didn’t give her suicidal son the treatment he needed for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Fynes’s son, Cpl. Stuart Langridge, committed suicide in March of 2008 after serving tours in Bosnia and Afghanistan. Despite repeated suicide attempts leading up to his death, Fynes’s said yesterday the military did nothing to help treat him. After his death, the Defence Department lost his will, organized his funeral without the input of his family, took seven months to return his belongings, and didn’t tell his family about a suicide note he’d left behind. Her comments brought a swift response from Defence Minister Peter MacKay, who immediately promised to resolve her situation and apologized for the way she had been treated.