Jessica's Story

My daughter, Jessica was a beautiful human being, both inside and out. She was a passionate high school teacher, partner, and mom. She was compassionate, kind, intelligent, and a champion of the underdog. She was recipient of the “UBC most promising teacher” award in 2012. Jessica was also a victim of assault and trauma in her early teens. In her late 20s, she began using substances to ease her emotional pain. Jessica was in recovery and 10 months sober before she passed away unexpectedly on April 22, 2018.

She was only 34 years old. Jessica’s journey with opioids began with her partner. They were both looking for an escape from their past traumas. As it so happened, a friend of theirs was being prescribed 800 mg of opioids per day, which he was using himself, sharing with his partner, Jessica and her partner, and selling the remainder on the street. Jessica and her partner also became parents during this time to a beautiful daughter. Now addicted to opioids and unable to take time away from their jobs in order to recover, when their friend’s physician stopped prescribing the opioids, Jessica and her partner began purchasing them illegally, and when they became either too expensive or unavailable, they turned to smoking heroin. It was as if the stars were aligned, in a bad way, because around that time, fentanyl began creeping into the picture.

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