‘He was a rock star’: Grieving family releases black balloons to raise overdose awareness

Family members grieving the loss of Luke Halldorson released black balloons over Kelowna on Tuesday.

Halldorson died of an overdose three weeks ago.

Moms Stop the Harm, a network of Canadian mothers and families whose loved ones have died because of substance abuse, have declared March 6 Black Balloon Day.

Juanita McMillan, Halldorson’s mother, is hoping releasing black balloons over the city will help raise overdose awareness and honour the memory of her son.

The 32-year-old man grew up in Kelowna but was living in Calgary when he died, leaving behind a fiancée and nine-month-old baby Harlo.

“He was a rock star. Hence the black star balloons,” she said. “Luke was just a beautiful soul. He was one of a kind. They just threw the mold away when they made Luke,” she said.

McMillan described the moment RCMP knocked on her door.

“It was the most horrible day of my life. The most horrible day that any mother could ever go through,” she said.

Doug Mackenzie, at Okanagan Options Treatment Centre, said evidence shows it’s 19 to 39 year olds who are dying from addictions.

“They’re not dying in the street; they’re dying in their home,” Mackenzie said.

Halldorson had struggled with addiction but had been clean for a couple of years, he said.

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“You would never know. You would just think great guy, a fun-loving guy, clean cut,” Mackenzie said.

“You get so intimate and close to these people, and then you get that phone call, and you can tell when you get the phone call, it’s from a mom, and it never gets easier,” he said.

McMillan said it’s tough to deal with the fact that the family will just never know why Halldorson relapsed.

“That’s the hardest part for people to understand. We just don’t know why,” she said. “We don’t know why he would choose that, but it’s part of the addiction because you’re always recovering.”

The family wrote messages to Halldorson and attached them to the balloon ribbons before they floated away.

“It’s devastating,” Halldorson’s mother-in-law Sherri MacDonell said through tears. “It’s devastating to know that I’m not going to see him again.”