Help my family bring my sister home

On the morning of June 26th my 16 year old sister, Carrie, was found unresponsive in the home of a friend. She was moved to BC Children’s Hospital, where the physicians confirmed that her brain had suffered too much damage for her to survive on her own, machines were keeping her alive.

On June 29th my sister underwent surgery in an effort to donate some of her organs. The hope that our families loss might help another family kept us going over the few days she was being stabilized, but now we are left to pick up the pieces.

The costs associated with staying in an expensive city like Vancouver, on top of bills that need to be kept up at home and the costs to be able to bring my sister home are weighing heavily on my parents, and I’m hoping that out of the kindness of your hearts we might be able to alleviate some of their stress during a time when they shouldn’t have to be worried about money. My parents are currently waiting in Vancouver with no idea when they will be able to travel home with Carrie. This means missing work, with no idea when they will be able to or be ready to return. Any help would mean a lot to our family during this time.

My sister suffered an overdose. I know where your brain immediately goes, but my sister did not partake in illicit drug use. My sister was given cannabis that was laced with lethal amounts of fentanyl.

The last thing I would have expected to cause this would be using cannabis, but I feel like if I share this it might make people stop and think about where they get their supply. This is not something you would think could happen to a 16 year old girl who just smoked a bit of weed, but someone in our own community provided my sister with laced cannabis, and it could happen to anyone. My little sister didn’t deserve this, and no one else does either. Please please PLEASE know your sources and make sure you are using a safe supply - regardless of what you are using. Safe cannabis is so easily accessible these days, this should never have happened.

If you need support:

Mental health and substance use resources for families: https://www.northernhealth.ca/sites/northern_health/files/health-information/health-topics/coronavirus/documents/covid-19-cymhsu-resources-for-families.pdf

Moms stop the harm: https://www.momsstoptheharm.com/

Crisis prevention, intervention and information centre for Northern BC: https://crisis-centre.ca/

The POUNDS project: https://thepoundsproject.com/

Foundry Youth Services: https://foundrybc.ca/