WATCH: Families of those killed by fentanyl are reaching out to try to teach others about the dangers. John Daly reports.
Families who have lost loved ones to fentanyl are talking about their loss in an effort to warn people about the dangers of the synthetic drug that is 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine.
Jennifer Woodside lost her 21-year-old son Dylan last year after he took the pain medication oxycodone, which was laced with fentanyl.
Jack Bodie was a 17-year-old who was working to pay off a new car, balancing school and hockey while at Burnaby North Secondary School, and thinking about his future.
Bodie died on August 2, less than a day after he was found by police, passed out in a Vancouver park, after a suspected fentanyl overdose.
“He’s not what we would consider in our mind’s eye the typical overdose,” said father Mark Bodie. “He’s a young man that took a pill and fell asleep on a park bench.”
Prior to Bodie’s death, a North Vancouver couple died after using street drugs laced with fentanyl, leaving behind a two-year-old who is now an orphan.
Woodside understands what the Bodie family is going through. She started a local chapter of GRASP (Grief Recovery After Substance Passing) to support friends and families of overdose victims.
“I’m doing it for Dylan and all the other Dylans out there,” said Woodside. “That’s why I’m doing it so his death won’t be in vain. I’m going to save as many people as I can.”
WATCH: Jennifer Woodside on fentanyl and families
-With files from Amy Judd and Justin McIlroy
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