Pumpkin smash in Lower Mainland for people navigating grief, loss
Published 10:30 am Sunday, October 18, 2026
A new group dedicated to helping people navigate grief, trauma, and loss has been founded by the widow of Const. Rick O’Brien, and for the launch she is hosting a Pumpkin Smash in Pitt Meadows.
Nicole O’Brien, is the founder of Brave Hearts, a group for anyone moving through a part of life that feels hard, messy or difficult to navigate.
It is a body, mind, and soul healing community for people navigating grief, trauma, loss, and other hard or messy chapters of their life, she said. It is a place to reconnect with themselves, and connect with others.
“Some of you may know me as the wife of RCMP Const. Rick O’Brien, who was killed in the line of duty in September 2023. Since losing Rick, I’ve been finding my way through grief…and learning how much connection and different healing experiences can help along the way,” said O’Brien.
O’Brien said online that she started the group after she lost her husband and had to search for experiences herself to help her reconnect with her body, quiet her mind, nurture her soul, and feel part of life again.
She said the day her husband died, everything was pulled out from underneath her.
The life she had built with her husband, their plans, dreams and future were gone.
“Life did not simply feel different after Rick died. It was unrecognizable,” she said.
However, in the days after he passed, people stood beside her, and their presence helped her carry herself through her grief, she said. And, she learned that healing can happened in places people don’t expect, like in a conversation, a shared silence, in laughter, an invitation out, or being surrounded by people.
O’Brien had experienced the power of community through the Joint Forces Jamboree, which she helped to found in her husband’s honour.
She explained this new group is not another another traditional support group centred around one kind of loss, trauma or life experience. It is not a place where people had to arrive ready to talk, explain what happened or share the hardest parts of their story. And it is not a program suggesting there was one right way to heal.
“I imagined something different. A community where people could explore experiences that support the body, mind and soul while gently connecting with others who were finding their way too,” said O’Brien on the group’s website.
“Some experiences might bring calm or grounding. Others might create movement, release, curiosity, laughter or joy. Sometimes it might simply be a reason to leave the house and have something to look forward to. There would be room to participate without pressure. No one would need to know exactly what they needed, be ready to tell their story or arrive feeling brave. They could simply come as they were,” she said.
At the Pumpkin Smash, participants will be able to write on the pumpkin whatever feelings or events they are ready to let go of, and then they will get to smash them.
“You can laugh, cry, yell, cheer… or quietly take it all in. There’ll also be time to ground, connect and enjoy food and refreshments,” said O’Brien.
Pumpkin Smash is the first of five events in the Brave Hearts fall/winter Experience Series.
Other events will include tapping, creativity, breathwork, and sound baths, with the same group coming together throughout.
Pumpkin Smash takes place from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1 at Hopcott Farms,
Tickets are $45 and can be purchased at: https://www.thebravehearts.ca.
For more information follow along on Instagram:@wearebravehearts.