Mothers share stories of loss on International Overdose Awareness Day

Aug 31, 2016 | 2:06 PM

KAMLOOPS — Losing a child is a mother’s worst nightmare, but with the overwhelming presence of the dangerous opioid fentanyl in illicit drugs it’s becoming a tragic reality for some. 

This morning, Aug 31, a group of mothers shared their emotional stories of loss at the Farmer’s Market as part of the first International Overdose Awareness Day in Kamloops. 

WATCH: Full report by Jill Sperling

Sandra Tully is well aware of the potentially devastating consequences of illicit drug use, having lost her son Ryan Pinneo to an unintentional fentanyl overdose in January. 

“My heart just breaks a little bit more every time I hear that somebody’s passed away from fentanyl,” Tully said. “And I know how they’re feeling, I know how their family’s feeling, I know the pain and the sorrow and the grief that they’re going to go through because we’re still all living it and we need to get a handle on fentanyl.” 

Tully and other mothers affected by the loss of loved ones to drug overdoses joined the Phoenix Centre and other community groups to share their stories as part of International Overdose Awareness Day. 

“If it happened to us it could happen to anyone,” Tully said, “and people need to be aware, and we need to change things, and we need to get fentanyl off the street, and we need to have the stigma removed, and we need to have resources available, so that people, when they say, ‘I am ready,’ there’s a place for them to go. Right now that’s not the case.” 

For that reason two petitions were created, one calling for a safe consumption site to be established in Kamloops, and the other for legislation against pill and tablet presses. 

“That is how Ryan overdosed, it was a fake Oxy, and I was not aware that there was this loophole in our system that allowed anyone to purchase a pill press, and they manufacture thousands of pills in an hour,” Tully explained.

But pills are not the only concern for those fighting addictions. Sherry Robinson’s son, Tyler Robinson, passed away in January when he injected heroin that was laced with fentanyl. 

“If there’s no, for example, pure heroin, and everything is cut with fentanyl it just makes that fear ten-fold,” Robinson said. “It’s a big concern because the synthetic drugs mixed in with the old illicit drugs as we knew them has just made it a whole new ball game.” 

Robinson says there needs to be more accessible support services for youth and young adults. 

“For my circumstances with Tyler, I have come to realize he would have done best in a medically supervised treatment facility where he could have been assessed as he transitioned out of opioid use into an opioid replacement medication like Suboxone or Methadone,” She said. 

Regulations for prescribing Suboxone were relaxed in July, as the province continued to deal with the increase of drug overdoses that prompted a public health emergency.

At the end of July there were 433 recorded overdose deaths in B.C. this year, 22 of those were in Kamloops. 

A candle light vigil will be held at Riverside Park at 8:30 tonight to remember those who have died as a result of an overdose.