'I did it every day': Woman testifies about opioid overdose in Yellowknife

A woman who overdosed on an opioid similar to fentanyl in Yellowknife almost three years ago testified in court about the effects the drug had on her.

The 26-year-old said she blacked out moments after snorting the furanyl fentanyl. She said she doesn't remember anything until she was awoken on her couch 36 hours later. She had to be helped to a car and then into the hospital because she could not walk on her own, court was told.

According to the World Health Organization, furanyl fentanyl is a designer drug and derivative of fentanyl that is "mainly manufactured illegally in China."

The woman was testifying Thursday in the trial of Darcy Oake, the 24-year-old man who supplied her with the drug. He has already pleaded guilty to trafficking fentanyl. He's facing three other charges, including criminal negligence causing bodily harm in connection with the woman's overdose.

The woman testified that she has been sober for the last two years, but admitted she has consumed many illegal drugs, including cocaine and heroin.

She said she had been addicted to fentanyl — "I did it every day for a year, a year and a half," she said.

But she said until that day, Nov. 23, 2016, she had never overdosed or lost consciousness after taking the drug.

"It would just make me, like, mellow," she said.

'That was it'

Earlier in the trial, police officers testified that they were trying to find the source of drugs that had caused a sudden spike in overdoses in town.

The woman said just before she took the drug, Oake had warned her to be careful, saying he had overdosed on the drug earlier that day. She said Oake had laid out the line and handed her a piece of rolled up paper to snort it through.

"I did my line and I kind of remember walking out the door," she said. "I remember walking down the driveway and that was it."

I had more in my purse and I knew I didn't want to do it, so I told my mom.- 26-year-old woman who overdosed on furanyl fentanyl

The woman said the next thing she remembered was waking up in her home and crawling to the bathroom because she could not walk. She said she had to be carried to a vehicle and then into the hospital. She said the next thing she remembered was waking up in the hospital a day and a half later, her worried mother at her bedside.

"I had more in my purse and I knew I didn't want to do it, so I told my mom," she said. Her mother reported the overdose to police.

The woman said Oake was in a nearby bed, recovering from his second overdose on the drug.

She said she and Oake were close friends for years, but she did not speak to him in the hospital and has not spoken to him since.

The woman said she suffered from pain in her neck and numbness in her leg for six months after taking the drug.

The trial, which began Monday, is scheduled to continue into next week.