The memorial wall for Nanaimo's International Overdose Awareness Day is expected to be full of hearts, commemorating the lives of everyone lost to illicit substances. (Spencer Sterritt/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

loss of life

Memorial wall created as overdose crisis in Nanaimo takes heavy toll

Aug 31, 2020 | 5:29 AM

NANAIMO — The International Overdose Awareness Day event in Nanaimo will have a markedly more solemn tone in 2020.

Though the event on Monday, Aug. 31 has always commemorated the hundreds lost to fatal overdoses in a serious way, the 2020 event happens as the area and province grapples with a serious spike in deaths.

By the end of July, Nanaimo is close to exceeding the total number of fatal overdoses in 2019 with 24 so far. Four more people lost their lives in Nanaimo in July, of the 175 people across B.C.

If the spike in overdoses since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic doesn’t subside, the area could surpass the 2016 total of 29 and the 2018 total where 37 people died.

In 2017, the region set a record for overdose-related deaths with 56 people losing their lives.

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The 2020 event features a permanent reminder of how many people are no longer with their friends and families.

A memorial wall is being built on the corner of Milton St. and Wisteria Lane in south Nanaimo, with custom-built heart tributes being placed to honour those who’ve passed away.

Organizer Tanya Hiltz said they have 100 hearts crafted and ready to have the names of the deceased painted on and hung on the wall. By Monday, Aug. 31 upwards of 40 hearts were expected to adorn the wall in a small community garden.

On International Overdose Awareness Day there will be two candle light ceremonies at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. to ensure everyone can visit and remember their fallen loved ones.

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