After years of alleged sexual and drug abuse, the teenager dubbed "Girl X" booked herself into rehab and checked in for a three-month stint, hoping to make others happy and kick her habit.
But two weeks after arriving the 15-year-old lashed out and was sent back to the youth refuge she called home.
A few months later, in April 2014, she injected a lethal mixture of ice and heroin and died in Westmead Children's Hospital from a lack of oxygen to her brain, a coronial inquest has heard.
The girl, who cannot be identified, was first been taken from her family home by authorities before she was one and her short life was filled with darkness.
She was preyed upon by abusive adults, some using her for drugs and others pushing her into crime and probably prostitution, the inquest into her death has heard.
After leaving a care home where she was allegedly repeatedly raped at the age of around 14, the girl was accepted into a three-month rehab program.
It was supposed to run for three months but a few weeks after it began the girl was back at the care facility, forced to leave rehab after several violent outbursts.
The decision to remove her was disappointing, the manager of the care facility where Girl X lived said on Tuesday.
"Those opportunities don't often come by and I think she was let down," he said.
Much of the inquest will focus on the failures, social and systemic, which led to the death of the girl.
NSW deputy state coroner Derek Lee has heard how the girl was "used and abused" by many who were supposed to care for her.
At 14, she was allegedly raped by two carers while a ward of the state, and had probably been injecting drugs and mixing with criminals during her mid-teen years.
Forensic evidence at the inquest is expected to show she died after injecting a "speedball", a dangerous mixture of heroin and methamphetamine.
But moments of brightness emerged at the bleak inquest, and one of the few who looked out for her described a girl with a "heart of gold".
A carer who developed a special bond with the girl wiped away tears as she gave evidence.
"She always wanted to help everybody," the carer, who cannot be identified, said on Tuesday.
Between bouts of drug and alcohol abuse, when the girl was not missing from the home or hanging out with the many unauthorised visitors who snuck into her room, she enjoyed movie and junk food nights with that carer.
The inquest heard how the girl arranged for bags of lollies to share with other kids for the movie nights, and would delight in dispensing Maltesers ahead of a screening.
The carer described the girl as streetwise and said despite her regular consumption of drugs, Girl X never thought she was abusing them.
The case worker assigned to the girl is expected to give evidence on Wednesday as the inquest continues.
