Wendy Golden can’t watch the news the same way anymore.
The recent overdose death of 24-year-old Jesse Smith brought back her own heartbreak over losing her youngest son, Kody Cook, in 2014.
“Kody was quiet,” said Golden, “but he was always aware of anything. Just because he didn’t say a lot, didn’t mean he didn’t know everything that was going on.”
The Amherst, N.S. woman alleges her son bought $7 worth of prescription methadone from a co-worker in New Brunswick on June 24, 2014.
He was dropped off at home in Nova Scotia. Within a few hours, he was dead.
“I found him on the couch,” said Golden. “That’s when I discovered he wasn’t breathing.”
Another heartbreak for the mother who lost her son Cory in a fire five years before Kody died.
“Losing a child is very difficult,” said Golden. “I could never explain how it feels.”
More than a year after Cook's death, Neil Calder, 27, was charged with manslaughter, criminal negligence causing death, and trafficking.
Calder himself often wrote about the dangers of drug abuse on his public blog.
“In the past few years, we've seen in certain jurisdictions in Canada more of these charges being laid, including selling drugs at a party,” said criminal defence lawyer Tom Singleton.
It’s a move local addiction counsellors applaud.
“You do need to realize there are consequences, and your actions can be dangerous or in some cases fatal,” said registered counselling therapist candidate, Julia DeLong.
Golden wants anyone using or selling drugs to think of her son
“My biggest hope out of it all is that Kody's story will help someone else.”
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kelly Linehan.