A Grade 12 student at Coquitlam's Gleneagle secondary school died from a mix of heroin and fentanyl last summer, according to a B.C. coroner's report released this month.
The body of Gwynevere Kenny-Staddon was found on Aug. 7, 2016 in a bathroom at a Port Moody Starbucks after she bought the drugs from a friend and ingested the drug cocktail.
Although a drug user, she had not taken heroin and fentanyl regularly for three weeks before she died.
Coroner Adele Lambert ruled her death as accidental.
The 16-year-old girl's overdose death due to illicit drugs was among 914 last year in B.C. Among those who died was her boyfriend's brother, Brandon Jansen, who OD'd while undergoing treatment at a Sunshine Coast rehabilitation centre.
On March 8, Lambert wrote in her recommendation to Alex Scheiber, B.C.'s deputy director of child welfare, to "consider conducting a comprehensive review of the services provided to Gwynevere Joan Kenny-Staddon with a view to improving services and outcomes for children in the province of British Columbia."
Lambert described Kenny-Staddon as a gifted athlete with friends. But in the spring of 2012, her behaviour changed and school staff alerted the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD). Then 12, Kenny-Staddon had begun experimenting with drugs and, by December 2015, she was a regular user of heroin and fentanyl.
Lambert wrote the girl was referred to a number of treatment facilities, including an inpatient detox program. Still, "Gwynevere was frequently reluctant to participate in any of the programs," she noted.
By April of last year, she was hospitalized for a drug overdose and told doctors "she did not want to die."
Kenny-Staddon continued to live at home and to see MCFD representatives.
On the day she died, Kenny-Staddon told friends she wanted to get high and purchased heroin from a friend — knowing it contained fentanyl. She went into the bathroom at a Port Moody Starbucks alone, with her friends waiting elsewhere.
Starbucks staff called police when the bathroom door was locked for "an extended period of time…. Gwynevere was found unresponsive on the floor. Resuscitation was attempted but was unsuccessful."
A toxicological report showed she had ingested morphine (from the heroin), a lethal level of fentanyl and alprazolam, which is used to treat anxiety and panic disorders — for which she had no prescription. A syringe recovered near her body contained heroin, fentanyl, caffeine and trace amounts of cocaine, Lambert wrote in her report.
A GoFundMe online campaign has raised nearly $9,000 to cover the costs of Kenny-Staddon's funeral service and burial.
