B.C. mothers call for an end to stigma surrounding drug use and overdose
'Some days I can barely even breathe. I just can’t believe [he] is gone.'
On Friday, International Overdose Awareness Day will be observed in communities all around the world.
In B.C., mothers whose children have either died of an overdose or suffer from drug addiction are calling on the public to increase awareness of the opioid crisis.
"Some days, I can barely even breathe. I just can't believe that Matthew is gone," Judith Conway told On the Island guest host David Lennam, speaking from Comox of her son who died of a fentanyl overdose last year.
He was 30 years old.
"I realize that people need to shut down the shame. People need to start talking about it. We need to stop the silence."
So, Conway decided to create her own memorial display in her backyard. She says it honours not only Matthew's life, but the lives of others lost to overdose. Part of the display features pieces of yarn, each one representing a deceased person. There are 3,987 pieces of yarn, according to Conway.
Increasing awareness
Matthew's first experience with opioids was after an accident, said Conway.
"From then, things went really downhill. It was very difficult for him to get proper help from the medical profession. He desperately felt alone and desperately felt shame."
Conway said that most people did not know that Matthew was afflicted with addiction. He worked as a CrossFit trainer and manager of a gym in Port Coquitlam up until the end of his life.
Conway is calling for changes to public policy around drug use.
"[That might] mean helping them medically come down from the opioids, instead of treating them like they are just addicts," said Conway.
Sandra Tully from Kamloops lost her son, Ryan, to an accidental overdose of fentanyl in January of 2016.
She and others involved with promoting International Overdose Awareness Day are urging people to display a purple ribbon or simply wear purple on Friday.
Tully is a member of "Moms Stop the Harm," a network of Canadian families whose loved ones have either died of overdose or hope to recover from addiction.
She told Daybreak Kamloops host Doug Herbert that a lot of the people dying are those who experimented with drugs a few times or who party on the weekends. It is not just addicts.
"Aug. 31 is a day of remembrance," said Tully Tuesday at Kamloops city council.
"A time to shed light on the stigma surrounding substance use and offer compassion to those in the throes of addiction. A time to declare that we are in the midst of a deadly opioid crisis that affects all walks of life."
Listen to the full interview with Judith Conway on On the Island:
Listen to the full interview with Moms Stop the Harm on Daybreak Kamloops:
With files from On the Island and Daybreak Kamloops
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