Drug Overdose Awareness - Andrew & Debbie Tablotney
Andrew & Debbie Tablotney
Local parents who lost their son to drug overdose share their experience to raise awareness about the toxic drug crisis.
Back in January of this year, the BC government reported that at least 2,272 British Columbians had lost their lives to toxic drugs in 2022. Amongst the many families affected is Andrew and Debbie Tablotney’s family. The couple have three sons who grew up in this area. They are long-time residents of Steveston, and on December 14th, 2022, they lost their 36-year-old son Curtis to drug overdose.
I first learned about the family’s story when Andrew and Debbie’s eldest son Trevor reached out to me on social media to see if I could help promote the overdose awareness event that they will be hosting this month.
August 31st is International Overdose Awareness Day, a “global event to raise awareness of overdose and reduce the stigma of a drug-related death. It acknowledges the grief felt by families and friends remembering those who have died or suffered an injury as a result of a drug overdose.”
The Tablotney family’s awareness event will take place this August 31st at Garry Point Park, Richmond from 4pm to 9pm.
Visitors will see an installation of over 1000 flags planted in the ground to remember the lives lost to unregulated drugs in BC so far this year. There will also be educational information available as well as Narcan (naloxone) kits provided to the public.
Image taken from an April 14th 2023 awareness event at Minoru, Richmond—marking the 7th anniversary since BC declared a public health emergency over the toxic drug crisis.
A few days ago I met up with Andrew Tablotney to hear about his family’s personal experience and learn more about the reality of the toxic drug crisis. I’d like to thank Andrew for spending the time with me to tell me about his family’s personal journey, and for shedding light on the needs and challenges that many families have when it comes to navigating the healthcare system and finding information on drug addiction and resources.
The following is a Q&A adapted from our conversation.
Photo of Curtis Tablotney displayed outside Andrew and Debbie’s home.
What is your family's experience around drug addiction and overdose?
Andrew: The backstory is that my middle son passed away on December 14, 2022 from drug overdose. He had suffered from mental illness for ten years which led to drug addiction. He was hearing voices all the time, even in his sleep, but couldn’t get any help. And he felt that the only thing that could stop the voices—was the drugs.
He took cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine, and alcohol. He knew lots of people in Richmond, or would go downtown and buy it. He was 36 when he passed away—right in the middle of the age bracket.
There were times when we brought him to the hospital because he was hearing voices, and the healthcare professionals would say that it’s because of the drugs. But during times when Curtis appeared to be clean, he would still hear the voices. It’s a turnstile medical system here in BC where we’d bring him in, they’d temporarily stabilize him, then send him home because they’d need the hospital bed back to serve other patients.
We struggled for years trying to talk to the right people. We had him in treatment numerous times but they didn’t work out. The last time was in August 2022, and he was there for about twelve days. He had always suffered from separation anxiety, and while he was in the treatment program the doctors there said they couldn’t prescribe him anything, and that he had to get his family doctor to do it.
So he contacted the family doctor’s office which told him they couldn’t prescribe him anything unless they saw him. So Curtis decided, ‘Ok fine, I’m out of here,’ and left the treatment program. My wife said, ‘That will be his death sentence.’ And sure enough, several months later, he was dead. He had been doing well, but the system couldn’t provide him with what he needed.
Image from the Tablotney’s July 1st 2023 info table at Steveston Salmon Festival.
What is your vision and plan for the August 31st awareness event at Garry Point Park?
Andrew: We’ve lost Curtis and we aren’t going to get him back, but our ultimate goal is to make sure that other parents don’t have to suffer the same kind of consequences that we did.
At the August 31st Overdose Awareness Day event at Garry Point Park, we have three main objectives:
Share first-hand experience, compassion and empathy
First, as parents who have been through the experience of having a child go through drug overdose, and having felt the frustration of navigating the healthcare system, we are giving people an opportunity to talk with someone who’s had first hand experience, who can tell them that they’re not alone.
Present stats about the opioid crisis to educate the public
Second, we want to provide the public with some statistics in terms of what’s really happening in this opioid crisis. For example, right now, the leading cause of death in BC between the ages of 10 to 59 is drug overdose. Drug overdose has now surpassed cancer as the leading cause of death within that age range.
In June of this year, the BC government reported that the lives of 1,018 British Columbians were lost to unregulated drugs between January and May 2023.
For the year 2022, our province of BC reported at least 2,272 British Columbians had lost their lives to toxic drugs —70% aged 30 to 59, and 79% were male. My son Curtis passed away alone in his apartment while playing Playstation. And like Curtis, over 50% are dying alone in their private homes.
Across Canada in 2022 there were a total of 7,328 apparent opioid toxicity deaths. And from January 2016 to December 2022, a total of 36,442 deaths in Canada.
Provide Naloxone kits that can save lives
Third, we will give away Narcan kits—naloxone medication that can quickly reverse the effects of an overdose from opioids. Even if you don’t know someone who’s on drugs, you can keep one in your car so that if you see someone lying on the side of the road, you might be able to save a life.
Andrew and Debbie sit on the bench in front of their house. Now a mini shrine with purple flowers—Curtis used to sit out there and play with the neighbourhood kids.
What improvements would you like to see in regards to support for individuals and families dealing with drug addiction and overdose?
Need for centralized information
Andrew: What would really help parents is the creation of a centralized website for BC where all the credible information is in one spot. There are a lot of educational stats and good resources out there, but right now, you can’t find it unless you know where to look, because the information is so scattered.
When caregivers are in crisis mode, it makes their situation much more stressful and challenging when they’re left having to figure out from many different sources who to talk to and where they can get support within their local health authority or region.
Need for more consistent care and engagement
Another thing I’d like to see is support from the healthcare system that engages with people struggling with addiction on more of a day-to-day level. In an ideal world there would be someone to phone the individual everyday just to check in and say, ‘How’s it going? Are you having a good day? Do you think you want to go into treatment?’ That way, the individual can get the help that they want, when they are ready.
A person struggling with addiction may decide that they want to get help, but that feeling can come and go very quickly. There might be a brief window of one or two days before they change their mind about seeking assistance.
Additional benefits from improving support and addressing the root causes of addiction
If our society and the healthcare system could better address and treat some of the underlying causes of addiction such as mental health issues, then not only could we prevent deaths from drug overdose, our entire medical system would benefit as well.
For example, did you know that in 2021 BC medical emergency call takers and paramedics responded to 35,525 overdoses? The opioid drug related ambulance calls in 2021 were three times higher than in 2015. Imagine if we could cut that number down by even half? One time they sent an ambulance all the way from Vancouver to Steveston in order to look after our son. We felt bad because what if someone else in Vancouver really needed that ambulance?
With better supports in place, we could reduce emergency trips to the hospital due to drug overdose, and people who need paramedics for other life threatening emergencies can get access. Not only will we save more lives, we could also save tax dollars—with less money spent on the high cost of ambulances and hospital beds to treat drug overdoses.
What other overdose prevention and awareness initiatives is your family involved in?
The Curtis’ Dream outreach initiative
Andrew: This year, my eldest son Trevor started a project called Curtis’ Dream to raise awareness of the toxic drug crisis in the youth community.
You can learn more from the Curtis’ Dream website: http://curtisdream.com/
and on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curtisdreamcar/
Other helpful Links:
International Overdose Awareness Day
BC Provincial website information: https://www.wellbeing.gov.bc.ca/blog/international-overdose-awareness-day
Anne Vogel Clinic in Richmond, BC
Clinic Website: https://www.vch.ca/en/location/anne-vogel-clinic
Description from clinic website:
”The Anne Vogel Substance Use / Primary Care Clinic provides medical care and social support to individuals who are living with opioid use disorder in Richmond. They are an interdisciplinary team that provides a variety of evidence-based medical treatments for opioid misuse disorder.”
Take Home Naloxone Kits
BC Program Website: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/overdose/naloxone-kit
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Andrew: My wife Debbie and I have been living in Richmond since 1982 and moved into the Westwind school catchment of Steveston in 1987. When they moved into Westwind we immediately found a great community to raise their three boys—Trevor, Curtis, and Troy.
There were lots of kids and interactive neighbours. It even came with horses down the street in a neighbouring field. Through our monthly newcomer dinners, babysitting coop and the boys sports teams, we developed many lifelong friendships. Debbie and I eventually moved out of Westwind after downsizing, but still currently reside here in the Steveston area.
For many years, Debbie and I have been involved in politics in order to create positive change to benefit communities and families. For example, in the 1990’s, the early days of our political activism, we helped organize the first CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder) chapter in the Lower Mainland and lobbied the school board to improve assistance and services for children living with ADHD—which our three boys had to varying degrees. Debbie is currently the chairperson of the Richmond school board and has been a trustee since 2003.
We currently have a family owned and run insurance brokerage in Richmond. Our son Troy has been working in the business since 2008 and our son Curtis who passed away last December worked in the business since 2002.
