{"id":11680282,"date":"2026-02-23T23:01:53","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T04:01:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/?p=11680282"},"modified":"2026-02-23T23:01:53","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T04:01:53","slug":"okanagan-mom-support-help-group-son-died-overdose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/11680282\/okanagan-mom-support-help-group-son-died-overdose\/","title":{"rendered":"Okanagan mom found support, help in group after son died from overdose"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Robin Lukash lost her son to a drug overdose, she didn’t know what to do.<\/p>\n

“I didn’t have anywhere to go,” Lukash said.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“The autopsy showed a small amount of fentanyl, but that small amount of fentanyl was enough,” the grieving mother said.<\/p>\n

Her grief, she said, was compounded by feelings of isolation until she found a support group called ‘Healing Hearts’.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t \t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t \t<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n

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.<\/p>\n

“It’s very stigmatized and there’s a lot of shame,” said Helen Jennens. “People are afraid to talk about it.”<\/p>\n

Jennens knows it all too well.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

While the number of drug toxicity deaths went down by 21 per cent from 2024 to 2025, the numbers are still staggering.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“So that’s 15,000 plus families suffering with nowhere to go, Jennens said.<\/p>\n

In addition to Healing Hearts, Moms Stop The Harm also offers Holding Hope groups for those currently battling addictions and their loved ones.<\/p>\n

The group sessions are offered in person and virtually across B.C. and Canada.<\/p>\n

For Lukash, they have been life-saving.<\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

For more information or to access a support group, you can check out the Healing Hearts website.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":190094842,"featured_media":10081207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"2026-02-24T04:02:14Z","apple_news_api_id":"78b9b26d-dde9-468e-9edc-6d5517ba5c65","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2026-02-24T04:02:14Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AeLmybd3pRo6e3G1VF7pcZQ","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[546387928,546387887],"tags":[700416847,319182],"gnca-iab-tag":[700512211,700533387,700513389,700514667,700511479,700511542,700518526,700512143,700518137,700654131,700513400,700513216,700511566,700511990,700525464,700512210,700511672,700514169,700514912,700511549,700512357,700511710,700560087,700512811,700518134,700512172,700511881,700512058,700512333],"gnca-iab-category":[700511552,700511620],"coauthors":[700979965],"class_list":["post-11680282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-canada","category-health","tag-healing-hearts","tag-overdose","gnca-regions-gnca-okanagan","gnca-iab-tag-addiction","gnca-iab-tag-adverse-drug-reaction","gnca-iab-tag-advocacy-group","gnca-iab-tag-autopsy","gnca-iab-tag-canada","gnca-iab-tag-child","gnca-iab-tag-compassion","gnca-iab-tag-drug","gnca-iab-tag-drug-overdose","gnca-iab-tag-facilitator","gnca-iab-tag-fentanyl","gnca-iab-tag-grief","gnca-iab-tag-health","gnca-iab-tag-kelowna","gnca-iab-tag-labrador","gnca-iab-tag-mental-health","gnca-iab-tag-mother","gnca-iab-tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","gnca-iab-tag-nurse-practitioner","gnca-iab-tag-nursing","gnca-iab-tag-okanagan","gnca-iab-tag-patient","gnca-iab-tag-self-medication","gnca-iab-tag-shame","gnca-iab-tag-social-stigma","gnca-iab-tag-the-canadian-press","gnca-iab-tag-toxicity","gnca-iab-tag-university-of-british-columbia","gnca-iab-tag-vancouver","gnca-iab-category-health","gnca-iab-category-sensitive-subjects"],"apple_news_notices":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/11680282\/okanagan-mom-support-help-group-son-died-overdose\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":[],"rendered":"","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/globalnews.ca\/p.js"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/2023110908118-a67e05682c708aecd7a86b950b7c7b4acf519ac9c3272930dd1ad51e81b5facc.jpg?quality=65&strip=all","openmedia_bucket":"","gnca_regions":["Okanagan"],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8762011,"url":"https:\/\/globalnews.ca\/news\/8762011\/grieving-parents-children-anniversary-bc-opioid-crisis\/","url_meta":{"origin":11680282,"position":0},"title":"Grieving 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