Anna's Story

“I’ve always been proud of my son. I’m not ashamed of how he died,” says Anna Maria Iredale. "I’m saddened by how people decide whose lives are worthy or not. I am supporting CAMH to honour my son and everything he did to help others, and because of all those people out there still struggling like my son struggled.”

If today is like any other day in Canada, 20 of us will be dead from an overdose by the time the day is done.

Maybe you allow yourself to shrug that off by thinking that it’s always been that way. Maybe you think that kind of thing only happens to certain kinds of people. People not like us.

His message always came back to the same place: people just like him are dying because of stigma.

“Stigma makes people with substance use feel ashamed for something that is out of their control,” says Anna Maria. “It prevents people from seeking the help they need. Kindness, connection and compassion can change a person’s life.”

That is what changed Mathew’s life and made him look to the future with such hope. But a family tragedy — the sudden death of his step-brother and friend in a car accident — set him back in his recovery. He started using again. And because he was using Fentanyl, his life was at risk. One moment he was sitting in a restaurant with friends, the next he was in a coma from which he would never recover.

“He had been sober for so many years, fallen down and gotten up and kept on trying so many times that he thought he could control it. But it’s like Russian roulette now. Imagine opening a bottle of wine and everyone takes a sip and falls over? We would be doing something about that.”

Anna Maria takes comfort in knowing that unbeknownst to her, Mathew had filled out his organ donor card, so that if anything ever happened to him, his death could be of benefit to others in need.

Remembering and honouring Mathew’s life and death for the benefit of others in need is what gives Anna Maria’s own life purpose and meaning these days. It is why she wanted to be a part of CAMH’s No One Left Behind Campaign.

“If it can save one life, it will be worth it. People need to care because of all those people that are out there still struggling like my son struggled, so they might have a chance. So there will be fewer moms like me.”