This mother penned a brutally honest obituary about her daughter's overdose death

Mary Breen recently had to do something no parent ever wants to do: She wrote her daughter's obituary.

And when she did, the Toronto woman wrote about everything. She wrote about how she loved her daughter, how passionate her daughter was, and she showed the scars her daughter had: a struggle with mental health, a drug addiction, her recovery, her work to maintain her mental health, her relapse and her death from a fentanyl overdose.

"I wanted to do right by her by telling the truth," she said. "I wrote that because we really believed in honesty and destigmatizing mental health and addiction issues."

The day Sophie Breen died, the 27-year-old had taken some fentanyl and appeared to be feeling good. Mary Breen was told she had taken out her art supplies and was in the middle of having a snack.

"She had put some lamb chops in the fridge to thaw," Breen said.

It's believed Sophie then took more fentanyl and died. Breen says police told her that's common — people are impaired, they're not quite sure when they took their last dose, and they might not be as good at measuring.

"Fentanyl is so unpredictable. It can be concentrated," Breen said. 

Police said they were unable to confirm the circumstances surrounding Sophie Breen's death. At the time of her death, police and health officials in Guelph did warn the public of a particularly potent batch of fentanyl that was rainbow or dark purple in colour.

Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health issued a health alert about 11 overdoses in 48 hours.

Breen says her daughter was the 12th.

Police did say two people died during the string of overdoses. A 31-year-old man from Fergus was arrested and officers seized "suspected drugs," cash, cellphones, a computer and a knife from his home.

'I couldn't be prouder'

A week earlier, Sophie had told her fiance, her sister and her mother that she had relapsed and had used street drugs. She had been to a doctor to ask what more she could do to deal with her physical and emotional pain.

Mary Breen says she was always worried her daughter would die by suicide or accidental overdose.

"I have prepared myself for the possibility that Sophie might not survive her illness. [It's] a bit like having a family member who has had cancer and you just don't know if it might return," she said.

As Mary Breen talked about her daughter, there is a notable sense of pride. Sophie was planning to return to university to do social work, she volunteered in Guelph at the Sanguen Health Centre and she was trying to fight her addiction and strive to maintain good mental health.

"I couldn't be prouder," Mary Breen said. "I don't think I could have withstood the pain she withstood the way she did. She was so resilient, just unbelievably resilient."

Listen to Mary Breen talk about her daughter: