22 year old Holly Hughes wakes up feeling tired after listening to firetruck sirens go off all night outside her window.
Lately Ive been actually having trouble sleeping because Ive been realizing the stuff that Ive been through, she said.
As she made her bed for what she was hoping would be a good nights rest, she thought back to being drugged at 19 years old.
I was feeling woozy, I didnt know what to do, I didnt know where I was. I was scared, Hughes said.
She doesnt remember much, but thinks someone could have laced the marijuana she smoked with something like meth or fentanyl.
She was taken to the hospital and given Naloxone, a medication that reverses the side effects of drug overdoses.
Ever since that day Ive just woken up everyday saying you got to cherish life because anything can happen, she said.
The Tucson Fire Department always has Naloxone, also known by its brand name Narcan, on hand in their trucks.
They said Narcan isnt just used on people who use drugs.
It could be grandma or grandpa or an older adult or someone accidentally thought they were taking their blood pressure medication, took too many Vicodin, Tyler Berndt, their captain of safety and wellness said.
The Tucson Fire Department said they used Narcan over one thousand 4 hundred times in each of the past two years.
The Food and Drug Administration recently announced Naloxone will soon be available over the counter at places like drug stores, grocery stores, and even gas stations. They said theyre hoping manufacturers make it available as soon as possible and at an affordable price.
Berndt said that would give people an opportunity to save lives quicker.
Theyre there. They can be there faster than we can, he said
Hughes looked back on how Naloxone gave her a second chance at life. She said without it she wouldnt have gotten to do things like meet her fiance.
If I didnt get that, I wouldve been dead right now, she said.
She said Naloxone soon being available over the counter would help people in her shoes.
Take that. Do it. Because that might be the only chance you have at life, she said.
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