The death of this 26-year-old Thunder Bay man is revealing the realities of the opioid crisis

Each of the 10 short films of the We Were Here video series tells the story of a young person in Ontario who lost their life before the age of 30 due to the opioid crisis.

One of those stories belongs to Zach Tilson-Ozarko who died in June 2019 at age 26. Susan Tilson, his mother from Thunder Bay, took part in the project.

"I want to focus on how my son lived and not how he died. And this is a perfect tribute," Tilson said. 

The YouTube series honours the lives of young people who died from fentanyl-related overdoses. It pairs oral storytelling with intricate, hand-drawn illustrations to capture the lives of individuals who were more than statistics. 

The numbers are staggering. According to the federal health information database, there have been a total of 46,835 opioid-related poisoning hospitalizations between January 2016 and September 2024 across Canada. But Toronto writer Mary Fairhurst-Breen says much of the public still views this ongoing epidemic through a lens of stigma and detachment.

Fairhurst-Breen interviewed grieving families in Ontario in 2024. She worked with Nova Scotia artist Jessica Hiemstra to bring each story to life through frame-by-frame stop-motion animation. With support from arts grants and a small team of dedicated collaborators, We Were Here became a multimedia tribute.

Fairhurst-Breen's connection to the crisis is personal. Her daughter Sophie died in 2020 of fentanyl poisoning.

"The first thing I did was write a very honest obituary," she said. 

"I guess that was unusual enough at the time that I got media interest from the obituary."

The honesty of her words struck a nerve, and the project grew from there. But the project is not only about remembrance. It's also about challenging assumptions.

Putting a face on the statistics of the opioid crisis

Susan Tilson described her son Zach as, "very compassionate, funny, and loud." 

"He stuck up for the underdogs and at times he was the underdog," Tilson said. 

"He was always speaking out and talking about his struggles. When Zach was little, he was sexually abused by his stepdad and so he went to workshops and treatment facilities and was talking about what he did to help deal with those demons."

Zach was a skateboarder, musician and community advocate who spoke publicly about the trauma he carried. 

"My sister always says that I could see Zach being like a politician in the future or like an advocate for people. That's what that generation has lost."

Since Zach's death, Tilson has earned a master's degree and now works as a psychotherapist, supporting others coping with loss and trauma.

The launch of We Were Here was marked by a community screening in Toronto, where families gathered to watch the films together for the first time. 

Fairhurst-Breen hopes the series will reach audiences beyond those directly affected including educators, policymakers and the general public. She envisions the films being used in classrooms, public health campaigns and community events such as Overdose Awareness Day.

For those left behind, Tilson says it offers something even more vital, connection.

"I feel that he was there, in the room and all the other family's kids as well," Tilson said.  

"I'm not alone. Like there's so many lovely families who lost their kids and there was a story behind all of them. We need to put a face to those stats to move forward."