Sarah Heslet’s life had once been defined by addiction.
A longtime alcoholic and cocaine addict, she began snorting Oxycontin in 2004 and taking heroin in 2008. It wasn’t until 2015, when she woke up one morning to the realization that “51 percent wanted me to live and 49 percent wanted me to die,” that she ended the potentially fatal habit and co-founded Team Recovery, a non-profit organization that aims to help addicts and their families get sober.
On Sunday, she stood beside Toledo City Council candidate Sam Melden at Asbury Park as he announced “Block Out Heroin,” an initiative to train hundreds of Toledo residents to administer the overdose-reversal drug that had once saved her life: Narcan, a brand name of the drug naloxone.
“By leveraging a network of concerned citizens throughout the city, within our Toledo Block Watch system, we can enlist hundreds more people to join the fight against heroin,” said Mr. Melden. “We talk all the time about being a compassionate city. This is what a compassionate city looks like.”
Mr. Melden’s campaign will collaborate with Team Recovery to bring naloxone administration training to block watch meetings throughout Toledo. Any concerned citizen can call 567-200-3231 to be personally connected by Mr. Melden to the resources that can train their organization, church group, or block watch. Team Recovery has spoken to 7,000 students at 56 schools about the heroin epidemic and hosts a family support group called FAD (Families after Addiction and Death) weekly on Tuesdays and Thursdays, according to Ms. Heslet.
Narcan is a nasal spray that can treat a narcotic overdose in an emergency situation. It was first approved for overdose treatment by the U.S. Drug and Food administration in 1971. A pocket-sized hand-held automatic injector naloxone product intended for laymen was approved in 2014. Narcan has been used nationwide to treat heroin overdose. While there has been some controversy over using the spray to save the lives of drug addicts, Ms. Heslet sees its necessity.
“We don’t get to decide who lives and who dies based on their choices,” said Ms. Heslet. “We do not discontinue insulin to a diabetic who overeats sugar, we do not not go to a scene of an accident if there is a drunk driver involved, and we definitely do not not show up for a self-inflicted gunshot wounds. So I’m not sure why the question as to saving lives has become such a debate with Narcan.”
The 43612 zip code area, where Asbury Park is located, is the second highest in overdose rates per three months in Toledo, Ms. Heslet said, the first being the entire East Toledo.
Contact Ahmed Elbenni at aelbenni@theblade.com or 419-724-6194.
First Published July 31, 2017, 5:05 a.m.
