Michael Stone, a well-known area yoga teacher, author and Buddhist teacher, is being remembered as someone who helped others who were suffering. But all the while he struggled with mental illness, a bi-poplar disorder, that ultimately led him to try to self-meditate.
Stone's wife says her husband died in Victoria after seeking out a street drug to alleviate his mental health symptoms. A preliminary test shows the drug contained fenantyl.
Stone travelled to Victoria from the Gulf Islands on July 13th, and was reported missing by his wife. RCMP found him unresponsive the next day. He was kept on life support for 2 days to allow for donation of his organs, and was declared dead on July 16th.
Stone and his wife have 3 children, and another on the way.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to support the Stone family.