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Our Story Surviving Overdose Understanding Loss SOUL was started by MaryAnn Lemonds in 2011 after the death of her 21yearold son Ben to an accidental heroin overdose. MaryAnn had attended an AlAnon parent group while Ben was struggling with his substance use disorder and found the support very helpful. Following Bens death she attended several parent grief support meetings but felt a stigma related to the cause of Bens death. Many of the other attendees seemed to feel that her loss was somehow less than that of those who had lost a loved one to illness or an accident.