Windsor mother pushes for better addiction transitional supports amid doubling of opioid-related deaths
A new study published in a Canadian medical journal paints a bleak picture around opioid-related deaths in Canada.
It shows the number of those deaths has more than doubled over a three-year period when the pandemic hit high gear.
The study, published recently in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, covers a period from January of 2019 to December 2021.
“There was this immediate and significant increase in opioid related deaths,” said Tara Gomes, an epidemiologist at Unity Health.
Over that three-year stretch, opioid deaths jumped from 3,007 in 2019 to more than 6,222 in 2022, which according to study authors equates to a quarter million years of life lost due to opioid-related deaths.
The group most affected is men between the ages of 30 and 39.
It hits close to home for Christy Soulliere of Windsor, Ont. who lost her son Austin Tremblay to an accidental overdose in November, 2022.
“He's gone. You know, and there's nothing worse in the world than losing a child,” said Soulliere.
She said Tremblay battled addiction since he was 15 and was in and out of treatment facilities more than a dozen times.
On his last day, after 30 days of sobriety, he took a substance which was laced with four times the lethal dose of fentanyl.
“I crumbled,” she recalled. “My world, everything I had fought 12 years to stop, it happened.”
Tremblay was just 27 years old.
In Ontario, one in three deaths of people in their 20s and 30s are opioid related and according to the study, they’re primarily caused by fentanyl.
“These are kids, it’s a whole generation. And if those numbers are right, it's 25 per cent of that generation is no longer going to be here,” said Soulliere. “I don't know how people aren't taking that serious.”
The report suggests the increase among younger age groups points to a critical need for targeted prevention efforts.
And that’s exactly what Soulliere is doing in her son’s memory.
She launched Austin’s Red Shoe Project with the goal of opening a transitional house for people who have gotten sober, left detox and need support before treatment beds open up.
“Nobody's staying sober for those four months. So there needs to be an area that fills that gap,” she said. “And there needs to be more support for families that are dealing with this themselves.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
From AI running wild to collapsing ecosystems, government report outlines future disruptions
From collapsing ecosystems to artificial intelligence running wild, a new Canadian government report outlines 35 disruptions that could rattle the country in the coming years.
B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton hospitalized after prison attack
British Columbia serial killer Robert Pickton was attacked and sustained life-threatening injuries in a Quebec prison Sunday in what officials described as a 'major assault.'
opinion Tom Mulcair: With Trudeau spiralling, Mark Carney waits in the wings
In his latest column for CTVNews.ca, former NDP leader Tom Mulcair argues that if there's an unofficial frontrunner in the eventual race to replace Justin Trudeau as Liberal leader, it has to be former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney.
Toronto Blue Jays fan struck by 110 m.p.h foul ball offered tickets, signed baseball by team
The Toronto Blue Jays have offered tickets and a signed baseball to a fan who says she was struck in the face by a 110 m.p.h (177 km/h) foul ball at Friday’s game.
Matthew Perry's death is being investigated over ketamine level found in actor's blood, reports say
An investigation has been opened into the death of Matthew Perry and how the “Friends” actor received the anesthetic ketamine, which was ruled a contributing factor in his death.
OPP continues to investigate boat collision north of Kingston, Ont. that left 3 people dead
Ontario Provincial Police continue to investigate a long weekend fatal boat collision on Bobs Lake, north of Kingston, Ont.
Police in Ontario say suspects charged in armed home invasion near Toronto part of 'larger criminal network'
Police in Ontario say a group of suspects charged in an armed home invasion north of Toronto last year were driving a vehicle stolen in a carjacking in Calgary just one month earlier.
Stolen septic truck swerves through traffic, spike belt needed to stop it: Manitoba RCMP
A 29-year-old woman has been charged after police say she stole a septic truck from a Manitoba community and drove erratically on the highway.
Orphan orca's extended family spotted off northeast side of Vancouver Island
Members of a killer whale pod related to an orphan orca calf that escaped a remote British Columbia tidal lagoon last month have been spotted off the northeast coast of Vancouver Island.