Kennedy family tried to get help for Saoirse Hill's depression for months before her tragic death
HYANNIS PORT, MASSACHUSETTS: The Kennedy family reportedly spent months trying to get Saoirse Kennedy Hill treatment or rehabilitation for her depression before her death earlier this week.
Courtney Kennedy Hill, the 22-year-old's mother, told close family friend Luciana Klosterman they were “trying to find a place for Saoirse,” according to the Daily Mail.
“Maybe two or three months ago, I talked to her over the phone. She was in California,” Klosterman told the outlet about her talk about Saoirse. “She was trying to find a place for Saoirse there, to help with her depression.”
The Boston College student died of a suspected drug overdose after she was found lifeless at her family's Cape Cod compound on Thursday afternoon.
According to authorities, an initial autopsy revealed no signs of trauma, but the exact cause of death is still pending a toxicology report.
A source close to the family told Page Six she did not party a lot and that “there’s never been any sign to the family that Saoirse was drinking or taking drugs.”
"There's never been any sign to the family that Saoirse was drinking or taking drugs. She wasn't a partier or anything," they said.
However, they admitted she had a "very difficult" upbringing and had an "unstable childhood" especially until her parents, Courtney and Paul Hill separated.
“This girl is very sweet and a very shy girl who has struggled a lot with depression since her early teens," the source added.
Speaking to NBC News, former US Rep. Patrick Kennedy praised Saoirse for being open about her mental illness, after having fought his own battles with bipolar disorder and drug addiction.
“She’s a real hero in my family. She broke the silence,” he said. “We mourn her loss but her memory will live on as someone who wasn’t going to keep silent and wasn’t going to be feeling as if she had something shameful but rather something medical that she sought treatment for."
“This affects every single family in America, it’s way past time that we deal with this in a way that we would deal with any other public health crisis,” he added.
