Annie Storey, Board Treasurer, Sechelt, BC

Annie Storey’s only child, Alexander, was a handsome, athletic, passionate and creative soul. He loved music, drawing, and was intent on writing a movie script about his life. He also discovered Buddhism and was exploring his own spirituality. Alex found a love for tattoos and covered much of his body with spiritual and symbolic images of strength – he was considering becoming a tattoo artist. Alex was very loving and loyal, often telling people that his name meant “Defender of Men” – and he took that seriously as well, always standing up for the underdog and fighting for his family and friends and those he loved. He adored his beautiful daughter Bella, who was in love with her daddy. Alex excelled at sports, particularly football and was captain of the team throughout his teens.

Unfortunately, there were several traumatic events in his short life including the murder of his best friend that caused him to struggle with anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder – and he sought relief from this through using opioids after being prescribed Oxycontin by a doctor following a car accident. He struggled with opioid addiction for several years and was able to stop, by himself, in 2016. His recovery lasted until the pandemic hit, at which point he once again began to struggle with his mental health issues. Alex died in Burnaby on January 18, 2021, from carfentanil and benzodiazepine poisoning, just a few days before his 29th birthday – alone on his bathroom floor in his attempt to hide his addiction from the world. His death has devastated everyone in his life but most especially his mom and his now 8-year-old little girl.

Annie raised her son for many years as a single mother while attending university and training to become a chartered professional accountant. Alex was the driving force in motivating her to pursue this education and career. In his younger years, Annie left public practice to make sure she was able to attend every football or lacrosse game and to be a solid presence in his life. As time went on, Annie was incredibly frustrated and angry around the lack of available resources to help Alex in his struggle with addiction. Since his death, Annie is driven to change the landscape in this country so that anybody struggling with substance use can find the help they need without the stigma and judgement attached, and without the prohibitive cost of private treatment. She has already been interviewed by national news outlets and intends to continue telling the story of her son to raise awareness around the opioid epidemic that is taking a generation of our children. Annie is now taking on the role of Treasurer for Moms Stop The Harm.