“I hope that in reading my story you can feel less alone in your journey through mourning,” says Victoria teenager Olivia Hahn.
Olivia was 15 when her mother, Patricia Kilshaw, died of cancer in 2022.
She says writing gave herself space to heal and cope with her grief. The process of writing resulted in a self-published book called Healing Our Wounded Hearts: A real life story about loss in the voice of a teenager. The book launched in March 2023 and aims to support other teens dealing with grief.
She has become a youth spokesperson to help destigmatize grief and loss, and her story has been featured in several news articles, from CBC to Victoria Buzz. Olivia received the Saanich 2022 Arts, Culture and Heritage Award in the Youth (individual) category.
We applaud Olivia for her courage in writing this book and we are incredibly grateful that she has chosen to donate partial proceeds of book sales to Victoria Hospice. Nearly half of our annual operating costs – including all of our Bereavement Services – are funded by generous community donations like Olivia’s.