'Everyone has worth': Sask. friends create GoFundMe for local charities after overdose death
After the overdose death of their friend, three people in Saskatoon have come together to raise money to help people struggling with mental health and addiction.
Julian Hazen-Babchuk was 21 years old when he died from a drug overdose on Aug. 22.
According to his friends, Dana Kwan, Chantal Burke and Montana Manion, Hazen-Babchuk had been facing mental health issues.
“It wasn’t a recent struggle for him. It is something he has been struggling throughout the end of high school until now. A lot of it had to do with issues with mental health, and everyone has their different ways of coping,” Manion said.
The three friends said Hazen-Babchuk was outgoing and was always willing to help out others.
“He was a really fun person to be around, you always felt a sense of happiness when you were around him,” said Burke.
“Julian was probably one of the easiest people to talk to. There was no forced conversation, there was no hesitation. You could just say what you wanted and he would listen. He always put others before himself, it didn’t matter what he was going through,” Manion said.
They started a GoFundMe in honour of Hazen-Babchuk. The money will go towards local charities of his family’s choice that help people in similar situations.
“I think one message that comes to mind is to really have people understand that no matter what they are going through, they are not alone,” Burke said.
“We want them to reach out to resources and have those places where they’re welcome no matter what they’re dealing with or who they are. Everyone has worth and they deserve to have help.”
They’re hoping to raise $60,000 by Hazen-Babchuk’s birthday on Dec. 27, with $54,000 going to the family to be split between charities and $6,000 towards a memorial bench.
OVERDOSES 'SLICE RIGHT THROUGH OUR WHOLE SOCIETY'
According to the Saskatchewan Coroners Service, the province has seen a drastic spike in overdose deaths over the past few years.
In 2020, there were 303 confirmed drug toxicity deaths and 102 so far in 2021 – back in 2010, there were 78. The number of suspected deaths due to drug toxicity has also seen a major increase, with 36 in all of 2020, compared to 167 so far this year.
“Our numbers are ahead of what they were last year. That’s been compiling every year ahead of the year before that. We are seeing a steady increase unfortunately in deaths contributed by drug toxicity,” said Clive Weighill, chief coroner for Saskatchewan.
Weighill said the numbers don’t discriminate, and drug overdoses can happen to people in all sorts of situations and demographics.
“It’s a really complicated issue, even to discuss, because there’s so many variables with this. People that succumb to drug overdoses, it happens for a variety of reasons,” Weighill said.
“It could be somebody that has addiction problems. It could be someone that’s depressed. There is no one demographic, there is no one age group. It is right across the province. It seems to slice right through our whole society.”
Weighill said fentanyl has claimed the most lives in Saskatchewan, with the drug involved in 69 of the confirmed drug toxicity deaths this year.
But it’s also people taking multiple drugs mixed together.
“Very seldom do we see just one drug involved. It’s usually a combination of methamphetamine and fentanyl, or alcohol and fentanyl, or fentanyl and etizolam,” Weighill told CTV News.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW 'She was waiting for you': The story of how a B.C. man found his birth mother in England
After his adopted parents died, Dave Rogers set out to learn more about his birth mother. DNA results and a little help from friendly strangers would put him on a path to a small town in England.
Macklem tries to stay out of the fray as MPs do their best to use him to score points
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem navigates a political minefield every time he testifies before the House of Commons finance committee.
Montreal man on the hook for thousands of dollars after a feature on his Tesla caused an accident
A Montreal man is warning Tesla drivers about using the Smart Summon feature after his vehicle hit another in a parking lot.
Spike in 'violent rhetoric' since Oct. 7 attack from 'extremist actors,' CSIS warns
The Israel-Hamas war has led to a spike in 'violent rhetoric' from 'extremist actors' that could prompt some in Canada to turn to violence, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service warns.
Actor Bernard Hill, of 'Titanic' and 'Lord of the Rings,' has died at 79
Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' and went down with the ship as the captain in 'Titanic,' has died.
Israeli army tells Palestinians to evacuate parts of Gaza's Rafah ahead of an expected assault
The Israeli army on Monday ordered tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza's southern city of Rafah to start evacuating from the area, signalling that a long-promised ground invasion there could be imminent.
Dash cam catches moment suspected drunk driver hits parked car, sends it careening into North Shore flower shop
Police say it’s fortunate no one was injured or killed in a collision at North Vancouver’s Park and Tilford shopping centre Saturday evening that sent one vehicle careening into a flower shop and another into a set of concrete barriers outside a Winners store.
A Holocaust survivor will mark that history differently after the horrors of Oct. 7
This year's Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins on Sunday evening in Israel, carries a heavier weight than usual for many Jews around the world.
India's foreign minister reacts to murder charges, claims Canada welcomes criminals
India's Foreign Affairs Minister accused Canada of welcoming criminals from his country in response to the RCMP's recent arrests in a homicide that has roiled tensions between the two countries.