Vigil held for Coquitlam teenager who died in suspected overdose at Starbucks

Dozens of people gathered in Port Moody last night to remember a life cut very short.

Gwynevere Staddon, 16, was found unresponsive in the bathroom of a Port Moody Starbucks last week, dead from a suspected overdose.

On Monday night her friends and family mourned her loss at Rocky Point Park in a candlelight vigil.

"She always put other people before herself," said her mother Veronica Staddon, who was met with a lineup of people wanting to hug her and give their condolences.

"I just wish she only would have concentrated on herself and maybe after when she was grown she could have shared her talents. I think the world loses."

"It's been a hard week. [We're] trying to hold it together but it's been hard," said family friend Shelley Heron.

"She was a great person. It's just tragic what happened," said Jackson Meyers, who went to school with Staddon.

For Gwynevere's family and friends, the gathering was more than just remembering her life — it was also about getting the message out about drug use and fentanyl.

Her mother Veronica spoke of the need for better access to treatment options and prosecution of those in the drug trade, saying she tried to get help for her daughter but the public wait lists were too long and she couldn't afford private clinics.

"If I don't have $50,000 available, then they are not something I can use as a resource," she told CBC News.

There were 371 fatal overdoses in British Columbia in the first six months of 2016, according to the BC Coroners Office.

With files from Anita Bathe and Natalie Clancy