Jamie loses her partner to an overdose
Preferred Name: Jamie
Gender: Trans-woman
Age: Early 30s
Who is Jamie?
Jamie lives with her partner Tim and a friend in an eastern Sydney suburb. She describes her ethnic background as ‘Australian’: like both her parents, Jamie was born in Australia. Jamie is currently unemployed and her primary source of income is a Commonwealth Newstart Allowance*. She has completed overdose response training and has used take-home naloxone to reverse an overdose on one occasion. Overall, she thinks take-home naloxone is a ‘really good idea’ and that even people who are ‘not drug users’ should learn how to use it.
Brief Outline:
Jamie describes an occasion last year when her then partner Josh overdosed at his mother’s house in a rural area. Josh was taking methadone and another substance at the time, and he overdosed after also taking some heroin. An ambulance was called but paramedics were unable to revive him. Jamie was with him, and she was terribly affected by the whole experience. She has witnessed a lot of overdoses and is glad she now knows the signs to watch for, and what to do, having recently done overdose response training.
His mum was home at the time, so she got involved. The ambulance and police came. I was distraught at the time, just a mess. He was on methadone and had taken some pills, so I think it was the combination that led to the overdose. His death has affected me a lot; it woke me up a bit. I’ve got depression from it.
I do think about overdose. I’ve had three overdoses this year myself. To try to avoid it, I take heroin in the same room as my partner, Tim, and usually I go first, so he can see how it affects me, or he goes first. I also split it up into portions; if I got new stuff, I usually test it first then split it up depending on how it felt. Tim did the overdose response training with me, so now we should both know what to do.
In the past, there have been lots of times I’ve been there when someone has overdosed, and I’ve turned them on their side in the recovery position and called the ambulance.
I decided to do overdose response training because of my experiences with people dying from overdoses. I’ve witnessed a lot of them. I didn’t know the signs of an overdose, or what to look out for. Had I known about those things, it may have turned out differently for people I’ve known.
Reflecting on naloxone and her recent overdose response training, Jamie told us, ‘It’s a really good idea and more people should learn it; even if they are not drug users, they should learn it.’
Last year, my partner Josh and I were at his mum’s house in the country. I was with him when he took some heroin, and overdosed and died. I was helpless. I couldn’t help him.
His mum was home at the time, so she got involved. The ambulance and police came. I was distraught at the time, just a mess. He was on methadone and had taken some pills, so I think it was the combination that led to the overdose. His death has affected me a lot; it woke me up a bit. I’ve got depression from it.
I do think about overdose. I’ve had three overdoses this year myself. To try to avoid it, I take heroin in the same room as my partner, Tim, and usually I go first, so he can see how it affects me, or he goes first. I also split it up into portions; if I got new stuff, I usually test it first then split it up depending on how it felt. Tim did the overdose response training with me, so now we should both know what to do.
In the past, there have been lots of times I’ve been there when someone has overdosed, and I’ve turned them on their side in the recovery position and called the ambulance.
I decided to do overdose response training because of my experiences with people dying from overdoses. I’ve witnessed a lot of them. I didn’t know the signs of an overdose, or what to look out for. Had I known about those things, it may have turned out differently for people I’ve known.
Jamie (trans-woman, early 30s, NSW, non-prescribed opioids) reflects on the lives that could have been saved had she known about take-home naloxone earlier.
It’s a really good idea and more people should learn it. Even if they’re not drug users, they should learn [how to use naloxone]. I didn’t know the signs of an overdose before, or what to look out for, and that was one of my biggest problems. If I knew about those things, things may have been different for people I’ve known [who] have [had] overdoses. [For example,] snoring, loud snoring. I never knew that [was a sign of overdose], I thought that was just normal […] No one taught me it and so I wasn’t aware of what an overdose entails […] Now I know more about it.
Similarly, Jamie (trans-woman, early 30s, NSW, non-prescribed opioids) explains that losing her partner to an overdose prompted her to complete overdose response training.
Well, because I have had people die from overdoses and stuff, and that’s why I decided to do [the training] and, yeah, I pretty much [now] know how to do intramuscular injections. My last partner […] died of an overdose, so yeah, and I was helpless, I couldn’t help him […] It’s affected me a lot. It kind of woke me up a bit. I’ve got depression from it […] I was pretty distraught at the time, so yeah, I was just a mess.