It's the phone call every parent dreads - the one that something has happened to his or her child. A Tsawwassen mom experienced that call two weeks ago after her son and daughter were two of the nine young adults in South Delta who overdosed on fentanyl-laced cocaine over a 20-minute period in the early morning hours of Sept. 1. Luckily all of the overdose victims survived and were treated by first responders after the initial calls for help were received by Delta police. The mom is speaking out and telling her story to the Optimist in the hopes others will realize the serious drug issue that exists in the community. She has requested her name not be used, so we will refer to her as Jane.
History and how the night began
Jane said her son and daughter, both in their mid-20s, often run with the same circle of friends. They don't always party together, but on that fateful night of Sept. 1 they did. She admitted her daughter is an addict who has been battling drugs off and on for years, while her son considers himself a "recreational " user. "It's sad because she was doing really well. Five months totally clean, but she relapsed," Jane said. She said her kids were out with friends, drinking and listening to music at a jam session. It was getting late, but they wanted the party to continue, so they headed to her ex-husband's house where her son is living. They wanted to score some cocaine. "So it was my son, daughter and three other friends. One of the friends went out and got some cocaine and brought it back," she recalled. "But one of the five in the group decided that he was tired and wanted to go home. He didn't do any lines of cocaine." That decision ultimately saved the other four lives, Jane said. "He left the room and went to use the bathroom and then came back into my son's room to say goodbye and that's when he saw everyone passed out. All their faces were pale and one of them was starting to froth at the mouth," Jane said. "He had some CPR training, he moved them all on the floor, tilted back their heads, called paramedics and started CPR because one of them was not breathing. If it wasn't for him not taking a line of that cocaine, no question about it all five of them would have been dead."
The paramedics arrived within minutes
Jane said her son recalls going in and out of consciousness, while her daughter told her she thinks she died for a few seconds and the paramedics brought her back. "All she remembers is waking up on the floor surrounded by the paramedics," Jane said. "I got a call about 9 a.m. in the morning from my ex-husband's partner who told me that my son was OK and was in the hospital. She thought my daughter was at home. I'm processing this and just getting ready to go to the hospital when she called back again and said that my daughter was also in the hospital. I just kind of froze for a minute." After collecting herself, Jane made her way to the hospital. When she arrived she was surrounded by a room full of other parents, kids, police officers and hospital staff. "I don't know what it was like. I was in a different space. I just knew that I had to be really, really strong. I have these two kids in crisis here. I have to stay strong, stay solid - I can't afford to fall apart here. I have to help them, encourage them to heal." Her daughter chose to check herself out of hospital, while her son followed the advice of doctors and stayed in hospital until the next day. For the next few days Jane kept watch over her kids - talking with them, just being there for them. She said her daughter is seeking treatment again and knows she has to make better choices. "She realizes that if she doesn't stop using cocaine she will probably end up dead," Jane said. "She loves her marijuana and that's how the drugs started, but when she goes off the rails, she turns to cocaine. My son says he will never do it again - it was a real eye-opener, but I just don't know."
Can't stay silent
Jane said she can't sit back and wait for things to change. She said as a community everyone has to play a part in helping to get these drugs off the streets. "I know that I can't stay silent anymore. My blood is boiling. I have to take that pain and put it to a better use," she said. "I have had years of the worry, the fear, being scared, isolating myself, the crying and the pain - I've done all that. When I got that phone call I was prepared. I just knew that this time I had to do something."
Jane said she has attended Nar Anon meetings with her daughter. She said there is a real problem in our communities. "My son and one of his friends didn't even start touching cocaine until they were well into their 20s. It was marijuana and alcohol," she said. "In my view, it all starts with the drinking. I told my son you are drinking too much and you are losing your perspective. My daughter is the same way, she will drink and then she craves the cocaine. "I think we are coming at this from the wrong direction. We all say it's the drugs, and yes it is, but what starts that craving for the drugs is the alcohol. We have all these rules and laws for all these drug dispensaries, but you have all these bars and liquor stores and means of getting alcohol everywhere, but no one is addressing that." Jane said communities have to come together to work on solutions and apply pressure on government to change the laws, which she wants to see stiffer penalties for drug dealers. "These dealers who are putting together these drugs know what they are doing. I want to see the law changed to manslaughter. If we don't change the law, more people are going to die," she said. "That's what I want to fight for. If we don't stand up, nothing is going to change. Our kids are going to keep dying."
