Family, friends honour loved ones on new online wall ahead of International Overdose Awareness Day

Dan Gibbs is among Canadians who've lost loved ones to drug overdoses, and says he wishes he had had more time with his two friends who recently died.

On Friday, Gibbs, of Windsor-Essex in southwestern Ontario, will mark his 90th day in recovery after 20 years of using drugs on and off.

"One friend was doing cocaine and there was fentanyl in the cocaine, and she went to bed and didn't wake up," said Gibbs. "She left behind a son and a brother and a lot of friends who miss her."

Gibbs's story highlights why the harm-reduction organization Pozitive Pathways is behind a new online space, which was launched Tuesday, to help people remember friends and family affected by overdose deaths.

As of Thursday afternoon, the online memorial had 15 messages.

To Gibbs, the memorial strikes a deeply personal chord.

He said he's not sure he'd be alive today if he didn't seek help. During the pandemic, he was at his lowest and knew he needed to make a change.

"Just waking up every morning and the first thing that I thought about was using, and if I wasn't able to come up with a way to use, I just didn't feel like I wanted to be alive anymore, and that's a pretty sad spot to be in," he told CBC News.

Since May, Gibb has been enrolled at Hand in Hand Support, a non-profit organization in Windsor that delivers substance abuse and mental health recovery programs.

This week, the Windsor-Essex Community Opioid & Substance Strategy (WECOSS) issued its sixth alert for 2022 about a high number of opioid-related emergency department visits and overdoses, as well as substance use-related calls to emergency services.

According to the most recent data from Ontario Health, there were 67 confirmed opioid-related deaths in Windsor-Essex last year. In 2020, there were 71.

Last year, there were also 505 emergency department visits in Windsor-Essex related to opioid use, compared to 358 the year before.

"It's not good out there," said Claire Venet-Rogers, harm reduction community education co-ordinator at Pozitive Pathways.

Online memorial creates space for mourning

Messages on the online memorial honour and give insight into people who haved died from overdoses.

"I think of what you would be doing, who you would be, and what we could do together," reads one of the messages in remembrance of Anon.

Another message is written to "3 beautiful people who never quit trying. Miss you all."

And this one dedicated to Dylan C. reads, "You did your best to be a good dad, and you were loved by so many people. Rest in peace xx."

Last names are not being shared to maintain people's privacy, Pozitive Pathways said.

"It really hit home when I started seeing these messages come in. I was like, 'Oh yeah, of course this is why I'm doing the work that I do,'" said Venet-Rogers.

"These are the faces and the people behind the work that we're doing ... We can't talk about International Overdose Awareness Day [Aug. 31] without talking about the stigma that these people face.

"Often times, the friends and families of people who have died from an overdose feel like they don't have a space, or at least a public space, where they can mourn and share those feelings."

Looking at the wall of comments and names, Gibbs said it's a good way to honour someone's life.

His message to people in the community who know someone struggling with addiction is to "treat them with care and kindness."

"The longer we can keep someone alive, they're always going to have that opportunity to change when they're ready," he said.

"It's a very scary decision for someone who has an active addiction, but if we can give them the means to a support, then when they're ready, they're going to change."

Gibbs said he's returning to work part-time again, and is focusing on playing music.

Pozitive Pathways is also marking International Overdose Awareness Day on Aug. 31 with a free session that explains opioids and includes naloxone training.