'It's an epidemic' | Narcan saves teenager's life in southern Indiana

BORDEN, Ind. (WDRB) -- The right place at the right time.

That's how people in Borden, Indiana, said they feel after a normal day turned into an emergency.

Tuesday in Borden started like any other with kids in class and the town was going about business as usual. Suddenly around 2 p.m., the clock started ticking.

"I was walking out a couple and this car pulled in really fast, didn't even park straight," Kathy Weatherford said.

Weatherford is the Borden Town Board and Community Coordinator. She was working at the Town Hall when she saw a man rush next door to the police department.

"A male stepped in and he was looking for Narcan because he had a female in his car with him who was unresponsive," Town Marshal Brian Meyer said. "It had happened down Highway 60 toward Sellersburg. He looked over and she was passed out."

The 19-year-old female was overdosing and barely breathing. Meyer said she was very pale, her skin was cold and her lips were turning blue.

"We started chest massage and the subject that was with her, the male, was giving breaths," Meyer said.

The police station typically gets their Narcan from the nearby volunteer fire station, but Meyer said nobody was around that could help.

"I didn't know what to do, so all I could think of was school," Weatherford said.

A couple hundred feet away at the Borden Jr. and Sr. High School, Toby Cheatham got a call he wasn't expecting.

"She was a little panicked," Cheatham said. "It was kind of one of those surreal moments."

After speaking with Weatherford for a few seconds, Cheatham said he realized the situation was an emergency and rushed to get the Narcan from the nurse's station. 

"We actually received the Narcan back in the first semester and a couple of us were trained on it also," Cheatham said. 

Down the hill, Weatherford said she started to fear the worst.

"One of the thoughts I had in my head was I'm going to watch a young lady die today," Weatherford said.

That's when she looked up and saw Cheatham sprinting out of the high school, across the parking lot and railroad tracks, with two does of Narcan in his hands.

"I actually though she had passed away when I got there," Cheatham said.

Cheatham said when he gave the female who was overdosing the first dose, there wasn't a reaction. So, he gave her the second dose.

"When the second shot went in there and she took her breath and she just turned pink in front of our eyes, I thought, 'It's a good day,'" Weatherford said.

Since then, the Clark County Health Department has given the area even more does to spread out around town.

Meyer said all of the police vehicles now have it and the department has an additional supply inside the building that the Weatherford can gain access to if nobody is around. 

"Not only can you use it in your school, you can obviously use it outside the school for a situation like this," Cheatham said.

As those involved processed the emotions of that day, they're hopeful others will learn from their story and be ready to act when it can mean life or death.

"It's affecting everybody and it's an epidemic, it's really bad," Meyer said. "This just shows you it's spreading out. It's reaching small communities."

On Thursday evening, the fire department in Borden is hosting a Narcan and Stop the Bleed training in partnership with the Clark County Health Department.

For more information on overdose prevention and response from the Clark County Health Department, click here.

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