Single mother shoots her severely disabled 7-year-old son to death and attempts to kill herself by overdosing on pills
A single mother is in critical condition after she shot her severely disabled son and then tried to kill herself with a coctail of pills. While Tanish Aleine Jordan from Bend, Oregon survived her seven-year-old son, Mason, was reported dead.
According to authorities, Mason was found near his mother and was pronounced dead at the scene. Notes discovered at the scene confirmed that Tanish was the shooter and she tried to kill herself using the pills. Tanish was Mason's primary carer for years after the boy's father left. It was reported that Mason was born healthy, but his health problems started when he was around five weeks old.
As reported by Daily Mail, Mason was five weeks old when he stopped breathing multiple occasion and it was eventually discovered that he had a problem with his heart.
During that time the boy suffered brain hemorrhages, heart failure and spent some time in a coma before reawakening. The experience left him with cerebral palsy, water in the brain, and blinded him in the right eye. Due to this, Mason had to be assisted in carrying out his day-to-day activities.
The outlet reports that Mason was non-verbal, unable to feed, dress or bathe himself, and used a wheelchair. Despite that, The Sparrows Club, a non-profit which helped to care for Mason, described the young toddler as a "happy little boy with the greatest laugh."
Dianna Hansen, a close friend of Tanish, said the pair lived with Tanish's mothers in order to make ends meet, and who also provided her with a helping hand in taking care of Mason.
Dianna is also the executive director of the Central Oregon Disability Support Network, where Tanish was on the board of directors. Dianna recalled that Tanish would volunteer as much as she could in order to help other families with disabled children.
She also homeschooled Mason after deciding that public school wasn't right for him. She even came up with lesson plans which she thought would be suitable for her son. "She was just an amazing, amazing mother who dedicated her whole life to him. Everything that she could possibly do for him, she did," Dianna said. Mason required multiple and ongoing surgeries. He has had nearly two or three so far this year. But despite all this, Dianna pointed out that he was always happy.
Dianna also recalled that Tanish showed no signs of depression or of feeling overwhelmed. None of us saw it coming at all. It's a total shock," she said. "'It's not something that's uncommon for caregivers to talk about and try to work through and share that they've had thoughts of that, but generally by the time they're talking about it, then they're less likely to do it. There was no talk or sign to any of us that were her friends."