Surrey Couple Receives Parking Ticket While Stopping To Treat An Overdose | The Canadian News

Have you ever heard the old saying, “no good deed goes unpunished?”

Here’s how a Surrey, BC couple felt Friday after stepping in to bring back a man from an overdose, only to find themselves facing a parking ticket as a result.

Kalen Bourden and his girlfriend had made a quick stop at the Surrey Central Skytrain station to pick up some friends shortly after 4:30 p.m. Friday when they noticed a man sprawled on the ground in distress.

“He was lying next to his bike, he was turning blue in the face, he was cold,” Bourden told Global News.

Bourden, who works on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, jumped into action, administered naloxone and, with the help of bystanders, performed CPR until an ambulance arrived.

“Thank goodness in the end he managed to get up and walk away, (after speaking) with paramedics, (to) make sure he was okay,” he said.

“But when we got back to our car, we had a parking ticket.”

The entire episode lasted about 15 minutes, with his vehicle parked just 30 feet away.

“We were just trying to do our good deed for the day and we go back to a ticket. We understand that the ticket manager probably didn’t realize what was going on, but it was a bit shocking, ”Bourden said.

The $ 80 ticket was issued by Diamond Parking, which operates the lot adjacent to the SkyTrain station.

Contacted Sunday, Diamond Parking Vice President of Operations for British Columbia, Mike Poirier, offered to waive the ticket.

“It seems to me that these people deserve a little relief,” he said.

While Bourden said the parking ticket was an unpleasant surprise to return to, he said he was excited by the community’s response to the man in distress.

“The moment I approached him and made it clear that something was wrong, a group of people came out of the carpentry and started helping us, we had people bring their own naloxone kits in addition to the one I had brought. , other people helped us with CPR, ”he said.

“I was really happy that the community came together to help someone when we all noticed someone was in need.”

In a province that averaged more than five overdose deaths a day in the first half of 2021, Bourden’s experience also shows the value of naloxone and first aid training.

“I’d rather take the ticket than lose someone,” he said.

“If you see someone who needs help, help someone.”