Davis Schneider’s brother died of an overdose. The Blue Jay says naloxone can save others - BERITAJA

To Davis Schneider, his older relative Steven was “kind of for illustration a Superman.”

“He worked arsenic a caregiver up until he died. He worked each azygous time to thief group successful need,” the Toronto Blue Jays subordinate said successful an question and reply pinch BERITAJA.

“He was benignant of for illustration the large celebrated feline who played a batch of sports and everyone benignant of loved him and I looked up to him each azygous day. Still do.”

But successful November 2020, his relative died of an opioid overdose successful a relative’s location successful New Jersey, wherever Schneider is from.

Steven was 26 and unsocial successful a room successful the house.

“During COVID, everyone was benignant of dealing pinch immoderate stuff. It was conscionable (an) abnormal time,” said Schneider.

“Mentally, he conscionable wasn’t successful a really bully spot. And I didn’t cognize that. He ne'er really benignant of showed maine he was benignant of struggling …. And, you know, he fell into immoderate supplier stuff,” he said.

Schneider didn’t cognize about naloxone — the supplier that could reverse opioid overdoses and prevention lives if administered successful time.

“Probably the about devastating point is that he was alone, he wasn’t pinch anyone,” he said.

Schneider now thinks if personification had been pinch his relative and had naloxone, his life could person been saved.

So erstwhile Emergent BioSolutions — the shaper of naloxone’s brand-name Narcan nasal spray — invited Schneider to go a paid spokesperson to raise awareness, the 27-year-old accepted, hoping to forestall different group from dying.

The institution publically announced the business connected Wednesday.

More than 55,000 Canadians died successful the opioid poisoning situation betwixt January 2016 and September 2025, according to Public Health Agency of Canada data.

The Canadian Centre connected Substance Use and Addiction says about 20 group dice of opioid overdoses each time successful the state — and galore of those deaths could person been prevented by naloxone.

But moreover though naloxone kits are disposable for free crossed the country,  including successful galore pharmacies and wellness centres, overmuch of the wide nationalist doesn’t prime them up, wellness experts say.

“There is sometimes a denial about really adjacent to location opioid overdoses could be, and group find themselves successful scenarios aliases situations wherever they didn’t expect to be,” said Dr. Taryn Lloyd, an emergency section expert and addiction medicine master astatine St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.

“There’s sometimes this thought that ‘it doesn’t hap to maine aliases to the group about me.’ And we cognize that’s not true. Unfortunately, opioid overdoses impact each group from each walks of life and each ages.”

When personification has an opioid overdose, they extremity breathing and that’s what leads to death, Lloyd said.

Naloxone reverses that effect, she said, noting that she sees galore group brought to the ER who would not person survived if personification they knew aliases a bystander hadn’t fixed them the drug.

In the hospital, patients person naloxone intravenously aliases done an intramuscular injection, Lloyd said.

Although intramuscular injectors are disposable successful the community, galore group find the nasal spray little intimidating to usage and it could beryllium conscionable arsenic effective, she said.

If personification is drowsy aliases unconscious and their breathing is irregular, that’s the clip to springiness naloxone if there’s a anticipation it could beryllium an opioid overdose, Lloyd said.

If the overdose is from a non-opioid drug, the naloxone won’t activity but it besides won’t do immoderate harm, she said.

Lloyd, who is not progressive successful the Emergent BioSolutions business pinch Schneider, said the shot player’s communicative could thief to trim stigma — and she hopes group will prime up a naloxone kit arsenic a result.

“I promote group to person 1 successful their car, person 1 successful their backpack aliases container that they usage each time conscionable to person available,” she said.

Schneider said he packs a naloxone kit erstwhile he goes connected the roadworthy pinch the Jays.

But he besides wants to spot naloxone kits disposable “in each nationalist place, for illustration a occurrence extinguisher (or) first-aid kit.”

That would beryllium ideal, said Tim Deloughery, a constituent usage wellness master astatine the Canadian Centre connected Substance Use and Addiction.

“The bottommost statement is naloxone saves lives, but it only useful if it’s disposable successful the infinitesimal personification needs it,” he said.

“It acts fast. It’s forcing opioids to unbind from the receptors successful the body.”

Schneider misses his relative each day, remembering really he pushed him to beryllium amended arsenic he played done the “grind” of the insignificant leagues connected his quest to make it to Major League Baseball.