A parent’s heartbreak
Just hours after the BC Coroners Service released new statistics Tuesday showing the first half of 2021 was the deadliest on record for drug users in this province, members of a Penticton family spoke publicly about the heartbreaking impact the opioid crisis has had on them.
Tim Lezard’s son, Aaron, died in his family’s home on June 6, 2018, at the age of 22 after using drugs contaminated with fentanyl.
“He wasn’t a hard user; just took it that one time,” said Tim, who’s also a Penticton Indian Band councillor.
“I have his picture on my phone so I get to see him every day and I always try to think about the happy thoughts about my son and the things he brought to my life.”
Tim shared his story with the small crowd assembled in Gyro Park for International Overdose Awareness Day.
With a federal election campaign in full swing, Tim suggested the time is now for voters to let politicians know that tackling the opioid crisis should be a priority.
“There’s opportunity here for us to make a difference with our voice and ask those people that (want) to lead us, ‘What are you going to do for these people that are hurting?’” said Tim.
“We see (people with addictions) every day, and sometimes they’re nuisances, but they’re still our brothers, our sisters, aunties, uncles, mothers, grandmas.”
And daughters, as is the case with Valerie Baptiste.
Her 41-year-old daughter, Jalisa Kruger, nearly died of a fatal drug overdose on Oct. 7, 2020, on the steps outside the Bethel Church in Penticton.
Kruger was found by the volunteers from the Keep The Cold Off Penticton outreach program, who gave Kruger a dose of naloxone and then administered first aid until paramedics arrived. She survived, but suffered brain damage as a result of the overdose and is expected to spend the rest of her life in a health-care facility.
Baptiste is now trying to get custody of Kruger’s young daughter.
“At least three days a week, (the girl) comes to me and she’s crying and she wants things to be back to normal,” said Baptiste, who admitted it’s difficult to face life some days.
“Today, I am not strong. I don’t want to be strong. I want to get mad at the damn drugs. I hate drugs. I hate fentanyl. I hate heroin. I hate cocaine. I hate them all,” said Baptiste, who choked back tears as she spoke.
Aimee Lezard – who is Baptiste’s niece and Tim’s sister – has endured those same family tragedies, plus lost her own son, Aubrey, to suicide in 2017, and much more.
“Jalisa is one person, one family member, who has overdosed, but we’ve had multiple people in our community who have overdosed; some make it and some don’t,” said Aimee.
Her family has since come to agree with celebrated B.C. author Dr. Gabor Mate that addiction is the opposite of connection.
“If we have a loved one that’s not at home and they’re on the street, we go out and find them and connect with them so they know that we’re here,” said Aimee.
“And we don’t talk about their addictions – we just put them in the car and drive around.”
That’s no longer an option for the families of at least 1,011 people who died of suspected drug overdoses during the first six months of 2021, according to Tuesday’s release from the BC Coroners Service.
It's the highest death toll recorded in the first six months of a calendar year during the province's overdose crisis, and June was the ninth consecutive month during which at least 150 B.C. residents died as a result of toxic street drugs.
Chief coroner Lisa Lapointe said drug toxicity is now the leading cause of death in B.C. for people aged 19 to 39 and it remains the overall leading cause of unnatural death.
"This is a significant problem within our province, and the fact we come out here every six months and every year and the numbers keep going up and up and up, and no significant changes are being made, it's tremendously frustrating," she said.
Lapointe said the safe supply program, in which pharmaceutical drugs are prescribed as an alternative to illicit ones, needs to be expanded and given more support, including public education.
“Most of the public doesn't understand substance dependency,” said Lapointe. “And it needs the public to understand, it needs the clinicians to understand.”
Ten people died of suspected drug overdoses in Penticton through the first half of the 2021 – none in June, apparently – according to the BC Coroners Service. That still leaves the city on track to top the record of 19 such deaths that was set in 2019.