When Robin Lukash lost her son to a drug overdose, she didn’t know what to do.
“I didn’t have anywhere to go,” Lukash said.
The Okanagan woman said her son David, who was 37 and a UBC student at the time, struggled with mental health and used substances to self-medicate.
“The autopsy showed a small amount of fentanyl, but that small amount of fentanyl was enough,” the grieving mother said.
Her grief, she said, was compounded by feelings of isolation until she found a support group called ‘Healing Hearts’.
“I had a cohort of people that I probably never would have met, who understand completely what it was like to lose someone so suddenly and with all of the background baggage,” Lukash said.
Healing Hearts started several years ago by Moms Stop the Harm, an advocacy group that recognized a need to provide specific support for a specific type of grief.
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“It’s very stigmatized and there’s a lot of shame,” said Helen Jennens. “People are afraid to talk about it.”
Jennens knows it all too well.
The Kelowna woman lost two of her sons to the toxic drug crisis and is now a facilitator helping others navigate grief, but she says she is treated very differently.
“We need the same compassion that anyone gets when they’ve lost their child or loved one and because of the circumstances around these deaths, we don’t get it,” Jennens said.
While the number of drug toxicity deaths went down by 21 per cent from 2024 to 2025, the numbers are still staggering.
More than 1,800 lives were lost in B.C. last year, in 2025 and more than 15,000 people have died since the health emergency was declared in 2016.
“So that’s 15,000 plus families suffering with nowhere to go, Jennens said.
In addition to Healing Hearts, Moms Stop The Harm also offers Holding Hope groups for those currently battling addictions and their loved ones.
The group sessions are offered in person and virtually across B.C. and Canada.
For Lukash, they have been life-saving.
“My first few meetings, I just listened and cried the whole time because everyone was telling my story, Lukash said. “I don’t know how I could keep going without them.”
For more information or to access a support group, you can check out the Healing Hearts website.
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