A Bell Island support centre marks Overdose Awareness Day with community vigil
The Hug outreach workers hopes the vigil is a way for people to remember lost loved ones
A candlelight vigil on Bell Island Friday night marked International Overdose Awareness Day.
About 35 people gathered to remember friends and family who died from drug overdoses.
The event took place at the Hug, an addiction support centre on the island
"We have lost quite a few due to overdose on the island. Recently, up to last year, a young man passed from fentanyl and it made the whole island, more or less, come together," outreach worker Lee Taylor told CBC News.
"He was one of our own and he was so young."
Taylor said he has overdosed three times in his own lifetime. It's a scary situation, he said, and when someone wakes up after an overdose, they experience a lot of confusion.
"You could have been dead. I'm four years clean now, going on my fifth. It's been a long road but I'm a lot healthier," said Taylor. "I feel better and I can work with the people that need me now because I couldn't help them when I was a user."
Fellow outreach worker Randy Ryan said to lose even just one young person is too many.
Ryan said he knows the importance of his work. He remembers being called on to help when a friend of his daughter's boyfriend had overdosed.
Ryan assessed the man and helped save his life with his training.
"If they hadn't come got me when they did, well, he would have passed on," said Ryan. "But I got him back."
Taylor hoped people who attended the vigil would feel a little bit of happiness for the people that they lost by keeping their memories alive.
"It's going to be a warm feeling going around," he said.
"A lot of people, probably, being a little upset but still remembering their family and friends that have died. Just keep their names going. That's the big thing to me is, you never want the fallen people to be forgotten."
Ryan said he hopes those who attended the event know now there are people here who can help.
Calls for Action
Right now, the province is having more open discussions about overdose and drug addictions.
In August, a crowd of 100 people gathered at Confederation Building to demand change and action on recent drug-suspected deaths.
Earlier this week Health Minister Tom Osborne announced a new all-party committee that will work on ways to improve support for people struggling with addictions.
He also said 24 N.L. residents have died due to an overdose this year, with 11 deaths in July alone.
The Hug gives helping hand
The Hug's peer support co-ordinator, Shelley Kavanagh, says drug addiction is a problem on the small island.
"We have a huge amount; from family, from friends, friends of those who've passed away either here on Bell island or St. John's or in Ontario. We've had quite a few numbers," she said.
Kavanagh is also mourning the loss of her nephew, who died in Ontario in 2017 at 24 years old.
"It was a big loss for our family and friends," said Kavanagh.
Years later, she can still recalls travelling up Portugal Cove Road with her daughter when they heard of her nephew's death.
It was a shock, she said, and she couldn't believe it. She said she had known he was using substances and at the same time Kavanagh was also seeking help for her daughter.
Not only did she lose her nephew, but she also feared losing her daughter. Getting the news of her nephew's death was devastating, she said.
It led her to other mothers in similar circumstances and the association, she said. In that time, an opioid dependency treatment centre was also set up on Bell Island.
She said the Hug was named by clients and community members because there's a lot of hugging.
"Everyone who comes in, they need a hug," said Kavanagh.
She said they try to help as best as they can, and there is a team of outreach workers who do home visits.
Clients also come in from the opioid management treatment clinic, she said.
They also now have people reaching out for naloxone training so they can be prepared if they need to provide assistance to someone overdosing.
- Following rash of overdoses, N.L.'s health minister says all-party committee will work on solutions
- Angry families confront N.L. government, demand action on drug deaths
The Hug is also a safe space for people to go. Kavanagh said they have podcasting equipment so people can tell their stories, as well as teach basic life skills.
"The Hug is a great place to go," Kavanagh said.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Katie Breen and The St. John’s Morning Show