Woman’s Mirror-Self Suicide Sparks Investigation into Canada’s Broken Healthcare System

When Katherine Barrett was thirteen, fate completely turned her life upside down. Or rather, reversed. “I began noticing that the person in the mirror wasn’t myself. Not in a metaphorical sense”, Katherine laughed. “I mean really, she wasn’t me.” 

For decades, Katherine’s mirror-self (whom she refers to as Kathy) had complete agency over her existence. “To be perfectly honest, it was frustrating sometimes. On more than one occasion, I would want to know how my outfit looked, and Kathy wouldn’t show up.”

Beginning with slight alterations in what Katherine assumed was her reflection, Kathy was independent by age twenty. When she stopped coming to the mirror a few weeks ago, Katherine began to worry.

“It wasn’t like her. Sure she would be busy sometimes, but now she was withdrawn,” Katherine told us. On January 16th, Katherine was made aware of Kathy’s passing. “I walked by the mirror holding the paper, and noticed in the mirror, the headline read of my suicide. But I was alive. I knew then and there, Kathy was gone.”

Both Katherine and her partner Eva Booker have sought answers from the state-run health service to no avail. Eva disclosed with us, “Canada always makes sure to treat its people with the best care, but this is ridiculous. Katherine’s struggled with depression in the past, but her therapist has always been there for her. Why couldn’t Kathy get the same treatment?”

Katherine hasn’t seen her reflection since Kathy’s passing, and she doesn’t expect to see it ever again. She told us, “I’m sad for Kathy. I’m sad for myself. Now I have to rely on Eva and my family to let me know if I look decent.”

The state government refused to comment on the events. Worry is spreading throughout the country as the livelihood and well-being of its mirror-self hang in the balance.