Community

WATCH: The pain and consequences of the opioid crisis

A local woman reflects on the loss of her sons

  • On sixth year of public health emergency, a mom wants change
  • Staggering statistics as crisis continues

Some days, Helen Jennens doesn't want to get out of bed.

Other days, she thinks about dying and how hard it is to live without her two sons - both lost to the opioid crisis plaguing British Columbia.

“Ryan died 10 years ago, and I can wake up in the morning and it could be like yesterday," she told Kelowna10. "And Tyler [died] in 2016. I’m raising his two kids. I see them every day, so I see him every day.”

Jennens now dedicates her life advocating for the decriminalization of illicit drugs and more safe supply sites with Moms Stop The Harm.

The B.C. Coroner’s Service Drug Toxicity Reports from 2016 to 2022 show close to 1,500 people have been lost to overdose in the Interior Health (IH) region. Over 9,000 people have died across the entire province.

“On this day of tremendous sadness, we know that more must be done and that a better future is possible,” Lisa Lapointe, chief coroner said in a media release.

“The deaths of more than 9,400 people over the past six years is a clear indication that new and innovative programs and options for people who use drugs are urgently needed, and that a health and wellness approach must replace the harmful, stigmatizing practices of the past.”

Jennens wants to remind everyone that the people who have died are loved ones - sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters- not just statistics.

“I’m trying to put faces to those numbers,” she said. “174 families in February are planning funerals for someone they love.”

As April 14 marks six years since the public health emergency was declared by the provincial government, IH mental health and substance use teams and community partners, such as Jennens, were at Starbucks locations around the city having conversations with people about the opioid crisis.

Black balloons were also hung at the locations and 300 balloons were tied to the pedestrian bridge over Harvey Avenue to raise awareness and acknowledge those whose lives have been lost.

"Our hearts go out to those affected by the toxic drug crisis. This is an anniversary that cannot continue,” B.C Premier John Horgan, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson, and Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, said in a joint statement.

“We need to come together to protect British Columbians now and into the future. While we are making progress, we know there is much more to do.”

Published 2022-04-14 by Jordan Brenda

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