1,200 people have died from overdoses in Saskatchewan in 3 years. Who were they?

More than 1,200 people have died from suspected or confirmed drug overdoses in Saskatchewan since the beginning of 2020. A CBC Saskatchewan project shares the faces and names of many of those we lost during those three years, taking the conversation beyond statistics and stereotypes.

Those who grieve them want others to know each person was someone's child and special in their own way.

As one mother told CBC News, "He'll always be my baby."

If you want to share the story of your loved one lost to an overdose since January 2020, contact bonnie.allen@cbc.ca

At six foot seven inches tall, Adam Cissé was a gentle giant. 

Never quick to anger, he delighted his family — including his three sons — with his jokes and silly nicknames. 

His mom remembers him as a "rumble tumble boy" who could blow holes in the knees of his new pants within minutes. 

Adam had a wicked slap shot that he used in his junior hockey career. He eventually worked on the oil rigs and ran his own construction company. 

He took drugs on and off since he was a teenager. In October 2021, a neighbour found Adam unconscious on his front lawn. He was pronounced dead from a fentanyl overdose at a Saskatoon hospital.

Avery Bird had a special place in his Auntie Kandice's heart.

She took him in when he was little and raised him as one of her own. His parents both died from drug overdoses — his mom when he was 11, his dad when he was 17. As Avery grew older, he would often send handwritten cards and flowers to his aunt's workplace to express his appreciation.

He worked hard at everything he did: school, sports and jobs.

He won three gold medals in track and field at the North American Indigenous Games when he was 14. The next year, he got a part-time cleaning job at an office tower in downtown Regina. 

In his twenties, he started drinking alcohol, then taking drugs, and his life unravelled. In November 2020, Avery rented a cheap hotel room in Regina to party with friends. He overdosed on fentanyl and was found in the bath tub.