Trinidad born Joe Fortes was Vancouver s first lifeguard thecaribbeancamera.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thecaribbeancamera.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Fortes died 100 years ago on Feb. 4, 1922, and while his legacy has been recognized by the city in various ways over the years, some in Vancouver's Black community say they think of Fortes' story in a different way.
Philip estimates that he injected $1 million into each of his scar-tracked arms during the 18 years he lost to heroin.
He watched his Fall River home with its granite countertops, his job as a truck driver, his marriage, and his relationship with his two young children evaporate as quickly as the money he used to keep the sickness of withdrawal at bay.
“It’s a chase every day, from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed,” Philip said.
“I lost everything, just for a drug.”
Philip arrived late to heroin, first snorting it at a friend’s urging at age 27 after becoming hooked on the Percocet that had been prescribed for a back injury. Within a week, his days and nights were ruled by the quest to get more heroin by any means. He’d inject some $450 worth a day. He’d buy it in Providence and sell it in Fall River at a $150 profit to fuel his habit.
R.I. Judge: Good Samaritan protections don t shield gun charges
PROVIDENCE A Superior Court has ruled that the state’s Good Samaritan law does not shield a Connecticut man from being prosecuted on gun charges.
Judge Kristin E. Rodgers let stand two firearms charges against Joseph Fortes, 36, of Moosup, Connecticut, stemming from his girlfriend’s overdose in May 2019 at Twin River Casino Hotel.
Rodgers rejected arguments that Fortes should be provided immunity from prosecution because the arrest occurred when officers were responding to an overdose call Fortes had placed. Instead, she determined that the Good Samaritan Overdose Prevention Act of 2016 excludes firearms offenses from its protections.