The last thing Jade Bell said he ever saw was a needle going into his tattooed arm.
It was Aug. 22, 1997, and the B.C. native was about to inject a deadly mix of heroin and cocaine into his arm – the latest step in an almost lifelong struggle with grief and drug addiction.
“Ten minutes later, I stopped breathing,” he said.
When he awoke from his month-long coma, he was blind, mute, and mostly paralysed due to brain damage from oxygen deprivation. Now, he requires 24-hour attendant care and a wheelchair to live, and speaks through a computer by tapping Morse code into paddles mounted by his head.
Bell spoke to Sir George Simpson students about the consequences of drug use Monday.
Principal Pierre Rousseau said he heard of Bell’s experience through the public school district newsletter and invited him to speak.
“We often talk to students here about how lucky we are,” he said, but some students end up throwing away amazing talents through bad decisions.
“I think they have to be aware of the possible consequences.”
In a computerized voice similar to that of physicist Stephen Hawking, Bell told the students about how he started living recklessly at age 11 following the suicide of a close friend and his diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes. He started smoking and drinking when he was 13, and turned to crack cocaine at 15 – the same year his brother died drag-racing while drunk and high on cocaine.
“I drank and did any drug that came into my mouth,” Bell said, using them to escape from the pain of his life.
“Instead of growing from those feelings, I hid from them.”
Bell said that he seemed like a smart, healthy, promising musician to his friends and family at age 21, but he had actually started doing heroin.
“I was snorting crystal and coke up to 50 times in a binge,” he said, and had a $200-a-night crack habit.
Not even finding his best friend, Duggy, dead from a heroin overdose turned him from his path, Bell said.
“I didn’t learn my lesson.”
Bell said he saw himself as “a breathing coffin” after he woke from his coma, imprisoned in his own body with guilt, fear and loss.
“I had everything taken away from me,” he said, including his brother, father, best friend, sight and independence.
“And I want to make a difference.”
Bell said he has been drug-free for 10 years and has produced four music albums with the help of other artists. He has also spoken to some 200,000 students about drug use.
“If my perspective on the dark road of drugs can prevent anyone from going through what I had to do, then my journey here today was worth it.”
Bell urged students to not start using drugs, and urged users to make peace with their demons and deal with their issues by talking or writing to others.
“Are you going to be moulded by an unhealthy environment, or are you going to show some strength and mould a healthy environment?”
A Sturgeon Composite teacher will play the bagpipes at Vimy Ridge next month to commemorate a pivotal moment in Canadian history.
Teacher Mike Johnson announced last week that he would play the bagpipes at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France this April 9 as part of the 100th anniversary commemoration of the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
The battle is seen as a pivotal moment in Canadian history, as it was the first time that all four Canadian divisions fought together, and has come to symbolize Canada’s sacrifices in the First World War. Canadian Brig.-Gen. A.E. Ross would later say that he “witnessed the birth of a nation” in the battle.
Johnson said he would play during the April 9 ceremony as a member of the RCMP Regimental Pipes and Drums, which has been working on this trip for three years.
While Veteran Affairs Canada had released few details on the ceremony, Johnson said he had heard there would be about 30,000 guests there. He and the band would also play at Juno Beach and other famous Canadian war sites in the lead-up to April 9.
Fellow teacher Ken Stanski noted that he and 34 Sturgeon Composite students also happened to be going to Vimy for the celebration, meaning they’d get to hear Johnson play. He himself had personally visited the monument five times.
“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for these students.”
Johnson said he was honoured to have this chance to represent his nation.
“It’ll be a good tribute to all those that went over there and lost their lives.”
