In a coma after her tent caught fire in London, Ont., her parents thank her street friends
31-year-old's parents have been told tent occupants were burning material to stay warm
In the middle of the night last week, a makeshift tent went up in flames in London, Ont., where Olivia and her friends were sleeping on a sidewalk.
Olivia, 31, suffered burns to nearly half of her body and is still fighting for her life at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, her parents say.
Sean and Stephanie, who live in Brantford, are now thanking Olivia's network of friends, many of whom are unhoused or street-involved, for supporting Olivia over the five or so years she's lived in London.
CBC News has agreed not to name Olivia and her parents, who share a last name, to protect the woman's privacy. Her parents' willingness to discuss their experience remains in the public interest.
"They were trying to create some heat for the evening," said Sean. "The temperature had gone down a little bit. They had an open butane flame and they were burning hand sanitizer.
"Our understanding is that the occupants of the shelter had fallen asleep and at some point during the night it had got tipped over and that ignited the fire."
This is a horrible tragedy. As a society, we have to make this better. This can't happen again.- Sean, Olivia's dad
Olivia's tent had been propped up in front of the Ark Aid Street Mission. Recently, the non-profit charity had to close 70 overnight crash beds because some of its funding had run out, leaving her parents to wonder if their daughter would be safe today if those beds had remained open.
"This is a horrible tragedy," said Sean. "I would like politicians, local, provincial, federal to really get to work on this problem.
"We realize that Ark Aid's funding was cut and they had to scale back on beds just the week before this happened. But now tax dollars are paying for a critical care bed at Sunnybrook. As a society, we have to make this better. This can't happen again."
Recent estimates from the City of London put the number of unhoused people at 1,868 as of October — double the rate from two years ago, when an estimated 966 people were believed to be homeless in 2020. As more people sleep rough — not just in London, but in towns and cities across Canada — the number of devastating fires in encampments is on the rise.
Olivia was revived twice through the ordeal and eventually flown to Sunnybrook Hospital, where she's in a medically induced coma and has already undergone two surgeries for the extensive burn damage, said Stephanie.
She'll need many more surgeries in the weeks to come, she said.
Struggles with mental health
According to her parents, Olivia has struggled with her mental health for a number of years and the couple has tried on multiple occasions to get her help.
"We've reached out to a tonne of resources," said Sean. "One of the challenges that I think we ran into repeatedly was the person that's suffering with the mental illness — ultimately, they're in control."
Olivia hasn't always made the best decisions, he said. Although it's difficult to pin down the exact reason she ended up living in a tent on a cold sidewalk in London's Old East Village, the trajectory that brought her there had been years in the making.
Family coming to London to thank community
Between caring for their two younger children and visiting Olivia at the Ross Tilley Burn Centre at Sunnybrook Hospital, the couple has plans to make the trip to London, to visit the community of people who have been supporting their daughter over the last months and years.
"My husband and I want them to know how she's doing," said Stephanie. "We also want to go and thank them because they all helped her when we couldn't."
[Ark Aid] had to scale back on beds just the week before this happened. But now tax dollars are paying for a critical care bed at Sunnybrook.- Olivia's dad, Sean
"These people are the reason that my daughter is alive and has a chance," said Sean.
"And not just that night, but every other night when she needed help," added Stephanie. "They are beautiful people. They love each other. My daughter, who's been in and out of our lives while she's been transient, will tell us lovely stories about all the friends that she has."
Olivia's prognosis is still unclear, said the couple.
"She can recover, it is recoverable, but she has to kind of have all the stars aligned right now, no infections and no other additional complications," said Stephanie.
"It's going to be an extremely long haul for her."
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