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Fergus woman shares daughter's story to raise drug poisoning awareness

Fergus mom Jacinta Cassidy created her blog Adventures in Healing to remember her daughter Olivia Gillen who died from a drug poisoning in 2022

FERGUS – A local mother is sharing her 'Adventures in Healing' online in the hopes it will help raise awareness and provoke action in response to the drug poisoning crisis while honouring her daughter's memory. 

It’s been a year and nine months since Jacinta Cassidy lost her daughter, 27-year-old Olivia Gillen to a drug poisoning on Dec. 5, 2022, when she ingested cocaine containing a dust-sized spec of Carfentanil, which is 100 times stronger than fentanyl. 

Looking for ways to start her healing journey months later, Cassidy created a blog called Adventures in Healing in March 2023 to share her experiences with loss and grief, connect with other individuals and families living with similar losses and keep Olivia’s memory alive. 

“There was something therapeutic about sharing it publicly because of the shame, guiltolivia-gillen and judgment that happens when someone dies by drug poisoning,” said Cassidy. “I felt like if I was the one to create the narrative to share my experience, then I would feel less shame and potentially help other people I knew were feeling similarly.” 

Describing Olivia as big-hearted, beautiful, talented musician and a functioning member of society who also experienced trauma in life and sometimes struggled because of it, Cassidy said it felt important for her to tell Olivia’s story to ensure “how she died and the mistakes she made are not how people remember her.”

“Sometimes when she struggled, she tried to make herself feel better by having a few drinks, going out with friends, or, in this case, doing cocaine,” said Cassidy. “And at those times, it was scary but she’d always get back on track and I was lucky that way. But it didn't protect her from dying.” 

Since sharing her grief and healing journey online, Cassidy said she’s spoken to many others who have also lost loved ones to drug poisoning but said they kept the cause of death private because they were afraid of stigma, shame and judgment. 

While Cassidy said it was hard to admit how Olivia died, the more she learned about substance use and the drug poisoning epidemic, the more Cassidy realized Olivia's story wasn't something to keep to herself because "if everyone keeps it secret, no one realizes the extent of the problem.

"There are themes of guilt and shame associated with this epidemic. No one wants their children to do drugs, nobody wants their children to make bad choices, and then when it takes their life, it's all a lot to deal with ... but I think if we continue to hide that, then the community as a whole won't understand that these are people and that there's impact and that we need more resources," said Cassidy. "We need better support for folks that do struggle." 

Going forward, Cassidy said she'd like to see more community members standing up and demanding better programs for people struggling with mental health, addiction and homelessness across Guelph, Wellington County and Canada in the hopes more people can understand the nuances of substance use and the drug poisoning crisis. 

“Collectively, we need to get together to create a solution,” said Cassidy. “It truly is an epidemic out there and it's sad and scary. That wasn't my daughter's story, but her death is connected to those stories.”

In 2023, there were 62 fatalities from drug poisonings in Guelph and Wellington County – the highest number of substance-related fatalities on record. 

So far in 2024, there have been 28 fatalities in Guelph and Wellington County. 

Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.