Ever hear the previous saying, “no good deed goes unpunished?”
That’s how a pair from Surrey, B.C. was left feeling Friday after intervening to carry a person again from an overdose, solely to search out themselves going through a parking ticket because of this.
Kalen Bourden and his girlfriend had made a fast cease on the Surrey Central Skytrain station to select up some mates shortly after 4:30 p.m. on Friday once they seen a person mendacity on the bottom in misery.
“He was laying down beside his bike, he was turning blue within the face, he was turning chilly,” Bourden advised International Information.
Bourden, who works on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, leaped into motion, administering naloxone and, with the assistance of passersby, carried out CPR till an ambulance arrived.
“Thank goodness on the finish he managed to rise up and stroll away, (after speaking) to the paramedics, (to) make certain he was doing OK,” he stated.
“However once we returned to our automobile we had a parking ticket.”
The entire episode lasted about quarter-hour, with their automobile parked simply 30 toes away.
“We have been simply attempting to do our good deed for the day and we come again to a ticket. We perceive the ticket particular person in all probability didn’t discover what was occurring, however it was a little bit of a shock,” Bourden stated.
The $80 ticket was issued by Diamond Parking, which operates the lot adjoining to the SkyTrain station.
Reached on Sunday, Diamond Parking vice-president of operations for British Columbia, Mike Poirier, provided to waive the ticket.
“It appears to me these of us deserve some aid,” he stated.
Learn extra:
A naloxone kit can reverse an overdose. Here’s how you can get one, and help save a life
Whereas Bourden stated the parking ticket was a nasty shock to return again to, he stated he was thrilled about how the neighborhood’s response to the person in misery.
“The minute I walked as much as him and made it clear that one thing was improper, we had a bunch of individuals simply come out of the woodwork and begin aiding us, we had folks carry their very own naloxone kits on prime of the one I had introduced, we had different folks help with the CPR,” he stated.
“I used to be simply actually pleased the neighborhood got here collectively to assist somebody once we all seen there was somebody in want.”
In a province that averaged greater than 5 overdose deaths a day within the first half of 2021, Bourden’s expertise additionally exhibits the worth of naloxone and first-aid coaching.
“I’d moderately take the ticket than lose somebody,” he stated.
“In case you see somebody in want of assist, assist somebody.”
© 2021 International Information, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.
