16-year-old Victoria girl gets naloxone kit training, saves man overdosing on the street hours later

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WATCH: Rayne Thompson got a free naloxone kit and training Saturday. Hours later, she used it to save a stranger’s life. Isabelle Raghem reports. 

Sixteen-year-old Rayne Thompson was walking along with a friend near View Street near Quadra Saturday evening when she noticed a group in distress.

“We saw people were huddled behind [a] little dumpster,” she explains. “We saw there was a person there not breathing.”

Friends of the young man on the ground told Thompson he had taken heroin and was overdosing.

She says he had been unconscious for about five minutes. In a panic, none of the friends had yet called for help. That’s when Thompson called 911 and went to action, pulling out a naloxone kit.

Just hours before, the 16-year-old went to AIDS Vancouver Island (AVI) in Victoria to get a free naloxone kit and training. She was motivated to get the kit by her grandmother who had been following the news about the overdose and fentanyl crisis.

On Friday, Island Health issued advisories in Victoria and Campbell River in response to a spike in overdose calls within 48 hours.

“At first I was like well I’ve never been around that, I’ve never seen it happen, but you can never be too safe so I brought one around and luckily I did. I guess I needed it this time,” Thompson said.

With the help of a 911 dispatcher, she began giving the stranger shots of the medicine.

After a total of six naloxone injections, the stranger began to breathe.

“I felt all that tension off my shoulders. At least this person is breathing, right?”

Her mother, Terri Thompson, says she’s not only extremely proud of Rayne but also grateful they had previously discussed the overdose crisis.

“It doesn’t mean the kids are drug addicts. We’re saying you might come across a situation where you could really use it.”

Terri Thompson says she is now motivated herself to get a kit and training.

“My daughter inspired me to do something, [it’s] amazing.”

The stranger contacted Rayne Sunday, thanking her and telling her he’s now out of the hospital and is doing okay.

While Rayne hopes this was the first and last time she’ll need use her kit, she’ll continue carrying it with just in case. Fighting the crisis in her own way.

 

Isabelle RaghemIsabelle Raghem

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