Editor’s note: By this point in Reggie’s story, his use of heroin had developed into a serious addiction. In “My Story,” Reggie describes how his drug use had progressed during this period and how increasingly large amounts of his time and money were being consumed by it. The following account, written in Reggie’s own words, describes one of the first occasions when his heroin use nearly killed him.

I took about 3 grams (of heroin) out of the bag for (immediate) personal use and packed up the rest and mailed it back home.  I had driven to the airport in Halifax so I had to fly back there to get the truck.  As soon as I got on the plane I went to the bathroom and snorted a big line.  I thought it would feel good to be high when we took/lifted off.  I was flying in First also. 

After I sat down, I don’t remember anything until I woke up with an oxygen mask on my face and all the crew standing around me.  They told me that I had turned blue and they thought I was dying.

We were just about to land in Halifax and they called for an ambulance to meet us.  I panicked and ran to the washroom.  In there, I shoved the bag of heroin up my arse, forgetting that heroin makes you constipated and worrying that I was going to get busted. After I came out of the bathroom, I told them that I had taken some Gravol for my stomach and had drank a few beer at the airport.  This could possibly explain me blacking out.  They bought my story and cancelled the ambulance.  What a relief.  But I decided that I wasn’t in a very good condition to drive so I took a cab into Halifax and got a hotel. 

Of course the heroin had made me constipated and I couldn’t get the bag out.  I paced back and forth for three days worrying that it was going to burst open and kill me.  But I was too scared of getting busted to get some help.  When I finally worked it out (the bag), I stayed for another 3 days until it was all gone.  But when I did get home, my package was waiting for me.  And my wife was in a bad mood.  I didn’t even try and explain where I was.  I just said, “don’t ask me”, and she didn’t.  That why I liked her so much.  I also had something to do with why she left me, no doubt.  But I didn’t care about anything.  I had the package.