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Winnipeg Free Press By: Katlyn Streilein
Last Modified: 6:42 PM CDT Tuesday, Apr. 20, 2021 | Updates
Rebecca Rummery lost her partner Rob to an accidental drug overdose in 2018. (Abby Matheson photo)
Annual drug overdose deaths reached an all-time high in Manitoba, after 372 people died in 2020, marking an 87 per cent increase in reported deaths over 2019.
Annual drug overdose deaths reached an all-time high in Manitoba, after 372 people died in 2020, marking an 87 per cent increase in reported deaths over 2019. We knew it was going to be high, but it doesn’t make it easier when you see these numbers, said Rebecca Rummery, co-founder of Overdose Awareness Manitoba. It’s people we’re talking about, and they all have families and loved ones.
A tattoo in his memory covers Last-Kolb s forearm. Jeremy Blaze, the artist who drew it, knew her son very well and had tattooed him in the past. The tattoo represents who he was, a little bit about the tattoos he had on himself, Last-Kolb says.
Last-Kolb s tattoo of her son s first name includes a rose, a black ribbon, angel wings and a cross, all symbols that fascinated Jessie. The tattoo is done in black ink, like the ones he had. (Radja Mahamba/Radio-Canada)
Tattoos were important in Jessie s life, she says. The night he died, he was going to get a new one.
WINNIPEG A Winnipeg woman said a 911 operator talked her through administering naloxone to her son who overdosed in his bedroom. Heather Witherden said she went to check on her 25-year-old son on Sunday evening and found him unresponsive. When I actually touched him, he felt cool and I got scared, she said, adding he woke up shortly after. I literally just came back like 10 minutes later, and that s when I found him again completely kind of like slumped over. On his desk, along with other drug paraphernalia, was a kit containing naloxone – the drug that temporarily counters the effects of opioids.