Kathy Wagner is the mother of three grown children, including her son Tristan who died from fentanyl poisoning in August 2017. Since that time, Kathy has actively advocated for improved access to quality addiction recovery services and was a peer support group facilitator for Healing Hearts Canada. Her interviews have appeared on CBC’s The National, the Vancouver Sun and many local newspapers and radio shows.

Kathy has published personal essays in the New York Times and The Globe and Mail, and was awarded a position at The Banff Centre for the Arts summer writing retreat in 2019. She is an experienced public speaker and has presented to large audiences at numerous conferences in a professional capacity.

Kathy’s wish is to bring hope to parents who are lost in the darkness of their child’s addiction or are struggling with a child’s drug-related death. She currently lives in the Metro Vancouver area.