Overdose and addiction awareness: Daniel’s story

Daniel, who found paNOW through membership in a social media group on crystal meth and fentanyl awareness run out of Muskoday First Nation is from Calgary but has a story that too many people are familiar with – one that has no physical boundaries.

He lives in Calgary with his girlfriend. She is a member of the Stoney Nakoda First Nation and he grew up in British Columbia. When Daniel and Kayla met, he knew he had found someone special that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

“I have dated a lot of women and finally I met the right one. We didn’t have a perfect relationship but we nearly built one,” he said. “She is the most amazing person I ever met.”

After some initial rough patches, they moved to a place of their own in Calgary – a move Daniel said took a lot of weight off of both of them. They had a dog named Oreo and life was good.

It was good until June 8 when things took a drastic turn that neither may ever recover from.

“We were living in Beltline, which is a club/party type neighborhood. We had spent the day out shopping and eating, we went for ice cream with our dog, we went home and ordered Door Dash (dinner and a bottle),” Daniel said.

In the morning, he took a shower and called for Kayla to bring him a housecoat since he forgot to grab it. She didn’t respond.

“I had an uneasy feeling and grabbed a towel to go see what was up and it was then I came to discover that she had decided to try fentanyl. She was laying in our bed completely blue,” he said.

He immediately called 911. He had seen overdoses before…but this time, it was different.

“I’ve handled a lot of overdose scenarios before but when it’s someone you really love and care for it hits with a confusing type of panic,” he said.

He followed instructions and put Kayla on the floor and began CPR. In the midst if the chaos, as the medics arrived, he had to stop CPR because the intercom to their apartment did not work and he had to grab the dog ‘who is very protective of Kayla’ and put her in another room.

“At 38 years old, I was witnessing the most traumatic event; the person who I loved more than anything ever, was laying on the floor – no pulse, not breathing while four medics were doing rigorous CPR on her.”

It took 22 years of dating to find her and all he could do was cry and plead with the paramedics to not let her die.

“After about 20 minutes I completely came apart as it was starting to seem that they’d given up and didn’t think there was a chance,” Daniel said.

Fortunately, they did find a pulse and she began breathing, so Kayla was stabilized, put in the ambulance and taken to Foothills Medical Centre.

Staff at the hospital told Daniel that she was alive but warned him that when people are in cardiac arrest for some time, their body lets off a chemical that kills their internal organs. After the process is eight per cent complete, there is no chance of living.

Kayla had been without oxygen to her brain for at least 30 minutes and she was at six percent organ failure, Daniel was told. They did not expect her to survive longer than a week or two.

“She spent over a month in ICU and during this time she has made remarkable progress and recovery. Each and every doctor and or specialist that is involved with her are completely amazed and blown away with not only her progress but with the fact that she didn’t suffer significant or severe brain damage,” said Daniel.

Kayla’s memory is intact, as is her personality, but she cannot move the left side of her body, although doctors think she will recover from that too.

The impacts to both of their mental health is significant and Kayla is still in the hospital three months later.

“I basically live at the hospital with her and take care of her from the time she wakes up till the time she goes to bed. I’m exhausted, I’m frustrated beyond any negative words or emotions but I’m thankful that someone somewhere gave my love another chance at life,” he said.

The road ahead is a long one and unknown.

Daniel has words of warning for anyone trying opioids or any substance that might contain them. Fentanyl or its derivatives are regularly added to drugs like meth to increase the high but have led to skyrocketing overdoses across Canada.

“I hope that my story can even just make one person rethink if they actually want to fool around with that drug or not…Please it is not worth it. Do not put that burden on your loved ones. This experience has f**ked me up beyond words.”

“Playing with fentanyl is more harmful than playing with gasoline and matches. You might as well put a firecracker in your hand, close your hand around it and light the fuse. You are going to get burned by this drug. I promise you that. Please do not live out mine and Kayla’s story,” Daniel said.

Saskatchewan alone has had 229 overdoses so far in 2024, a number that will reach close to 400 if the pace continues.

The province makes naloxone kits freely available across the province.

More information can be found on the province’s website.

If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, click here for a list of local services. You can also call:

National Overdose Response Service – 1-888-688-6677

This toll-free, 24-hour hotline aims to prevent deadly overdoses by connecting people who are alone and using drugs with peer volunteers who can call for help if needed.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

by Susan McNeil

Overdose and addiction awareness: Daniel’s story

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