Friends of a 27-year-old man dumped his lifeless body outside of the IU Health Arnett emergency room earlier this year, and medical staff miraculously managed to restart his heart and restore his breathing, Dr. Rickin Shah said.
A few hours later, the now lucid man checked himself out against medical advice. He told staff he left because he needed his heroin fix, Shah said.
The same addict was back three days later in worse shape, if that's possible. As before, they brought him back from death, Shah said.
Heroin and prescription drug abuse are killing people in Tippecanoe County at alarming rates, and the Drug Free Coalition of Tippecanoe County hosted a forum Wednesday with legislators, community leaders and area residents to discuss the growing problem.
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Deputy Coroner Matt Wietbrock crunched the local numbers for the forum. His printed handout indicates that 12 people have died so far in 2015 from heroin or morphine. In March, seven people OD'd; five of them died.
In 2013, 28 people died from accidental drug overdoses, according to the coroner's office.
The panel all agreed the problem is only getting worse.