Brenda and Richard Gaunt say their son, Stephen, was an active, inquisitive and thoughtful child.
He died alone in his apartment after consuming methamphetamine contaminated with fentanyl, one of 1,706 Albertans known to have died of opioid poisoning in 2023, the deadliest year on record for the province.Brenda and Richard Gaunt's first child, Stephen, was an active and inquisitive toddler, prone to follow his curiosity quite literally wherever it led him.
One of Stephen's childhood friends was a young boy with Down syndrome named Kent. While other children shied away from Kent, Stephen would invite him over to the Gaunts' house to play."He was very a compassionate child," added Brenda.Stephen's end came on Feb. 26, 2023. He died alone in his apartment after consuming methamphetamine contaminated with fentanyl. He had naloxone with him, but no one to administer it. He was 36.
Stephen started a bachelor of science degree at the University of Alberta but had trouble concentrating on his post-secondary studies. After a couple of years, he realized he might not make it into the medical program. For the ensuing decade and a half, Stephen would be in and out of hospital. He changed his last name, at one point, in an attempt to evade the stigma of mental illness.
After that, Stephen started regular doses of antipsychotic medication, which helped for a time, until he started drinking heavily again, his mother said.Brenda said they took him back to the Alberta Hospital, but there was a "huge lineup for detox" at the time, "so we took him home and detoxed him there."
"For someone who has a strong, strong, addiction, it's next to impossible to stay straight until you can get into these treatments," she said.