Heroin. In Part 1 of a two-part Perspective, I’ll talk about my encounter with the drug.
About 10 years ago, I was leaving work one afternoon from my job as marketing & PR director at Rockford’s largest hospital. A car came screaming off the main road and skidded to a halt in the portico. I figured something was up so I jogged over.
A young man jumped out, ran around the car, yelling “you gotta help my brother, he’s OD’d on heroin!”
I ran inside to find a wheelchair, just as a security officer was coming out. He and I lifted the dead-weighted and lifeless young man into the wheelchair and headed inside.
The Emergency Department is easily 200 yards from the main lobby with a maze of hallways and several turns along the way. We sprinted down the halls, me pushing the wheelchair, the security officer holding on to the unconscious man and his brother running behind us in a panic.
Finally, we reached the ED, pushed through the doors and handed him over to the staff. The security officer and I stood there gasping for breath while the young man who’d run with us vomited into a nearby trash can as they took his brother into a room.
I found out the next day the young man had survived what was indeed a heroin overdose. However, I always carried with me the thought that he probably relapsed. And the odds he’s even alive today are somewhat slim, given the nature of a heroin addiction.
The impact of that incident will always be with me, as trivial as it may seem That, among several reasons, is why I spend time reading and learning about the drug.
In Part 2, I’ll offer some additional thoughts on why I worry about heroin and some ways we might stem the tide of this growing epidemic.
I’m Wester Wuori, and that’s my Perspective.
