Saanich, B.C., teen heals from loss by helping others
As Olivia Hahn looks back at pictures from after her mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer, she recalls their countless conversations about owls.
“She said, ‘I’ll be coming back as an owl. Just know I’ll be watching you,’” Olivia recalls with a smile. “I was like, ‘OK. That’s really cute.'”
But Olivia didn’t really get it at the time.
When we first met her last year, Olivia said she couldn’t have imagined that there would be a day when she’d leave the hospital and tell her mom, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow,’ but arrive the next day to find she never got a chance to say goodbye.
Olivia was 15 when her mom died. She spent the next few months feeling lost and alone.
“It made me feel like I was different or I was weird,” Olivia says.
Her dad John says Olivia also felt frustrated that they couldn’t find any books about expressing grief from a teenager’s perspective.
“If we can’t find you a book,” John recalls saying. “I guess you’re going to have to write one.”
While John admits he was being flippant, Olivia — despite never really writing before — did just that.
“I wanted to write something that would help me through it,” Olivia says of her book. “But also help other people as well.”
A year later, she published ‘Healing Our Wounded Hearts,’ with proceeds supporting palliative care, and the goal of empowering others to begin their own healing process.
“And to let them know it’s OK to not be OK,” Olivia adds.
Since then, Olivia’s published another book, a collection of poetry about loss titled ‘To Hold Your Hand One More Time.'
She’s also modelled in fundraising fashion shows to support the BC Cancer Agency, and volunteers as the youth ambassador for Learning Through Loss, which offers programs to support grieving teenagers and young adults.
“[Youth] feel so alone in their grief,” says Kathryn Dafos, executive director of ‘Learning Through Loss.’ “Olivia reaches out her hand says, ‘You’re not alone.’”
And through helping, Olivia says she’s finding healing.
“It makes me feel better to help others,” she smiles.
But nothing compares to those moments — and there have been many Olivia says — when she hears a ‘hoot’ and spots an owl.
“It’s so reassuring,” Olivia smiles. “It‘s like I know my mom is there.”
It feels like her mom’s always watching over her with pride — that her little girl is growing up to be such a strong and caring young woman.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Prince William and Kate release photo of daughter Charlotte to mark ninth birthday
Prince William and his wife Kate released a picture of their daughter Charlotte to mark the princess's ninth birthday on Thursday.
Weight-loss drug Wegovy available in Canada starting May 6
The makers of Ozempic say their weight-loss drug Wegovy will be available to patients in Canada starting Monday.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Goring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
NEW A mother's hopes to free her son from a Syrian prison is revitalized by a new human rights report
Just days before the seventh anniversary of the day Jack Letts was thrown in prison with thousands of suspected ISIS fighters, his mother, Sally Lane, delivered a small stack of envelopes to the headquarters of Global Affairs Canada in Ottawa.
NEW Companies letting customers opt out of Mother's Day ads
In an effort to balance the profitability of Mother's Day with the pain it causes some people, some brands are offering customers the choice to opt out of Mother's Day email advertising.
Dental care program accepting claims for 1 million seniors
Citizens' Services Minister Terry Beech says 1,200 seniors have already visited a dentist and had their claims processed by the federal government's new dental care plan.
Concerns about Plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglass barriers.
NEW Facial reconstruction reveals what a 40-something Neanderthal woman may have looked like
Scientists studying a Neanderthal woman's remains have painstakingly pieced together her skull from 200 bone fragments to understand what she may have looked like.
Ont. woman who faked pregnancy to defraud doulas arrested again on similar charges
Victims of a Brantford, Ont., woman who was sentenced to house arrest earlier this year for defrauding and deceiving doulas say they’re not surprised she’s been apprehended again on similar charges.