Former drug addict saves man's life after overdose

Mike Egan administered Naloxone to the dying man. Picture: Eilis Walsh

A Limerick man has described the “terrifying” moment he used Naloxone to save a man from overdosing.

Mike Egan, who is the survivor of a 20-year battle with heroin himself, saved an opiate user from certain death in Limerick city last Friday, after he administered a number of doses of Naloxone to the dying man.

Naloxone is a medication used to block the effects of opioids.

Mr Egan came upon the man, who had collapsed on the street on the northside of the city, when he was returning from a cycle with a friend.

After checking the man’s vitals, he quickly recognised the signs of an opioid overdose and called for an ambulance.

He didn't look to me like he was breathing. I couldn't get a pulse. So I rang an ambulance and explained the situation. I had a look at his eyes, and they were pinned, so I told them I thought he had taken an opiate overdose

Mr Egan then ran home to retrieve the Naloxone while his friend waited with the man for the ambulance.

“The first shot of it didn't do anything. He tried to labour a breath but just went back into unconsciousness. So I gave him a second dose, so that brought him around. And he was just coming back into consciousness as the ambulance arrived.

It was scary. I thought it was too late already. I couldn’t get a pulse and the top of his lips are starting to turn blue. It's sheer panic

Mr Egan is no stranger to the dangers that come with the drug, having lost a number of friends to overdoses over the span of his 20-year-addiction with the substance.

He and a friend had decided, some years into their addiction, that they would seek training in the use of Naloxone in order to keep each other alive.

Limerick GP and advocate for Naloxone Dr Patrick O’Donnell praised Mr Egan’s actions and said: “Naloxone is a lifesaving medication that has lots of scientific evidence to support its use and it is recommended as an essential medicine by the WHO. We are lucky in Ireland that we have a national Naloxone programme that provides it free of charge.

“Currently, the rules state that only a person at risk of overdose can be prescribed the medication, but we are beginning to advocate for this to be changed so that this vital medicine can be made available to anyone who has completed a brief training course.”