WNY Woman Emails ‘Mix Morning Rush’ About Seeing a Heroin Overdose

This morning I received an email that shook me to the core.  I shared it with you on the air after 8 a.m., but in case you missed it, I'm posting it below.  I'm so grateful to the listener, "Roxann", for sharing the story.

You think it's not in your neighborhood?  You think it's "not your kid"?  It's everywhere, and it's terrifying.

And it's NEVER too soon to talk to your kids about heroin and other drug dangers.

Roxann writes:

On [Saturday] I pulled into the Tops on Slade ave in West Seneca - I look over to the car a park in the spot 2 away from me - there was 3 young adults in the car one looked like he was sleeping -I hesitated to get out of the car right away & watched for a minute - the passenger started shaking the driver who I thought was sleeping- I get out of my car - my 3yr old son was in the backseat- I rolled the window down so my son could see me at all the times & locked him in because how would I know if it wasn't a trick to either steal the car or kidnap my son - Now a days you never know. I went up to the car & asked if they needed help the passenger said we do - he didn't know what to do his friend was Over dosed on Heroine- I instructed the passenger to get out of the car & call 911- I sent the girl into the store for help- for my job I have to CPR & 1st Aide certified - I was ready to do whatever I needed to do to save this kids life - he was 18-  I don't know the ages of the other 2 but they were young as well. They were all high -the 1 calling 911 couldn't concentrate to tell the operator where he was - I had to keep telling him what to tell them - I told him to help me get the driver out of the car & on ground so I could assess the situation. Staff from tops came out & ask one of them to stand by truck because my son was in there - we got the driver out the car & needle falls out of the car w/ him. - once on the ground I checked for pulse & breathing he was doing both but he was completely non-responsive- In a matter of minutes the paramedics showed up along w/ police & I stepped out of the way & went to my car to make sure was son was ok & not frightened by what he just saw-This is what floored me about the situation- the amount of people that either walked by & saw what was happening & didn't offer to help - The people that stood watching & didn't offer to help. The passenger who said he was afraid to call 911 because he knew that he was in trouble for using drugs- he would rather his friend died- the fact that they were shooting up in the parking lot of a grocery store- that kids of that age have money & know where to find the drugs - the passenger when the police showed up he put a sweater on & made sure that the sleeves were down because he was trying to cover the marks on his arms & he shoved his hands in his pockets- the police asked him to take his hands out & a needle came out if his pocket. I do not know if the OD kid is ok - I will say this the staff from Tops were great they brought out pop & cookies for son to keep him calm because I couldn't go about my shopping the police needed to speak to me so until they did I had to stay -  Would you help if you saw what I saw?

By the way, everyone should know about the "Good Samaritan Law", which basically protects the caller and those at the scene from being arrested/charged with possession, public intoxication, etc.

The kid in the above story would've rather seen his friend DIE than get in trouble for using drugs.  This piece of legislation encourages "Don't Run, Call 911".