October 16, 2019 was the last time Darseen Pryor saw her daughter Taylor alive, scaling a fence along a busy highway near the University of Manitoba, only four days away from being admitted to the Selkirk Mental Health Centre. Over the next two days, a search team including police and numerous volunteers scoured the area for Taylor.
When those deer took off that day in the forest, Doug knew his daughter had passed away. God was preparing him for the news. Moments later, he learned that friends had found Taylor’s body. Doug had been all over the area where she was found but had not seen her. God, in His mercy, had spared him.
“I’d believed without a doubt that God would pull her through,” Doug told me more than two years later. He had received God’s promise that Taylor would be a world-changer, that she would influence government, that she would affect nations and youth. “So many were praying and so many prayers were answered. God had told me we needed to fast. We did forty days of prayer and fasting for Taylor, and so many people participated with us. It was such an encouragement. I just assumed she would be here to fulfill that world-changing promise.”
That night, a search volunteer named Darrell, a stranger to the family, had a dream. He shared it with the Facebook group that had been established as a way for searchers to communicate with each other. In Darrell’s dream, Taylor visited him. She was wearing a pale blue dress and glowing with joy. She stood in a garden, surrounded by animals, and she kept talking about her “baby.” Then she brought a man over to Darrell and said, “This is my dad’s dad.” Before she left, she told Darrell to “take care of Dad and Teaghan.”
While Darrell may have known that Teaghan was Taylor’s sister, he could not have known that it would be Doug and Teaghan who would struggle the hardest in those early months. He could not have known that Taylor loved plants and animals, or that her paternal grandfather had died when Doug was only sixteen. He could not have known that Taylor always referred to her dog as “My Baby.”
Darrell’s dream gave mourners much to hold on to. Taylor’s funeral at Prairie Alliance Church was standing-room-only, spilling over into all the overflow areas of her church. Many who didn’t even know Taylor came out to support the family. They heard firsthand from her friends and family about what an incredible person she was.
How does a family go on when their worst nightmare is realized? When their emotional and physical resources have been completely depleted? When they feel let down by their health care system?
Somehow, Doug and Darseen found the strength to continue to fight, in hopes that other struggling individuals—many with far less support than Taylor had—would not fall through the cracks. By February of 2020, they had done an extensive interview with CBC television and told Taylor’s story nationwide. Dr. Gerrard continued to fight on their behalf. Doors opened for them to meet with the province’s Health Minister and they had ongoing meetings with the head of their regional health authority. It seemed Taylor truly would be a world-changer, affecting governments and youth, although nowhere close to the way her parents had dreamed it would unfold.
Then the Covid-19 pandemic struck. At first, Doug and Darseen were glad for the forced isolation. They weren’t ready to have people around and this gave them an excuse to avoid it. On one hand, the pandemic slowed their grieving process. At the same time, it threw a blanket over everything they were trying to accomplish. Suddenly the entire world was focused on Covid. Though mental health issues would spiral out of control during and because of the pandemic, much of the fallout remains to be seen.
Doug admitted to having suicidal thoughts himself. He had shared the story about the deer with his pastor who told him, “I think God is going to use deer to speak with you more in the future.”
And God has. In one case, while staying at a friend’s cabin, a doe came right up to Doug as he sat on the deck and allowed him to stroke its neck. Another time, he was driving down the road, crying out to God in despair. “Lord,” he hollered. “I know Taylor is safe with you, but I just need confirmation! I need something. I need another deer. Could you send me a big buck?” Moments later, he had to stop the car to avoid a large buck. It stood in the middle of the road looking at him before running off. The clock on the car dash read 10:19. Taylor’s body was found on October 19.
Moments like that keep Doug and Darseen going, even while they live with broken hearts and, at times, unbearable grief. Next week I’ll share the last installment of their story.
Taylor with Guatemalan children on a missions trip
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