When Bruce Oake’s family was writing his obituary, they made the decision not to shy away from telling the world what had happened to the 25-year-old.
“We decided that we would put in the obit exactly what claimed his life,” said Bruce’s father, Hockey Night in Canada’s Scott Oake, in a CBC News piece. “Because we weren’t going to hide behind it.”
Bruce, who struggled with addiction for years, died of a heroin overdose on March 28, 2011. Now, his parents Scott and Anne, along with his younger brother, Darcy, are hoping to turn their grief into something positive — a way to help others and honour Bruce’s memory at the same time.
The family is raising funds to build a long-term treatment centre for addicts in Winnipeg. The $14-million, 50-bed facility will be free of charge for addicts.
“We are in a lot of ways right now leaving a generation of addicts out there to die,” said Scott, who added that Winnipeg especially has a dire need for a drug treatment facility that doesn’t turn away addicts because they cannot afford to pay. The Oake family spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on rehabilitation in an effort to help Bruce overcome his addiction.
Donations to the Bruce Oake Memorial Fund can be made to bruceoakerecoverycentre.ca.
