Pubdate: Wed, 23 Apr 2008 Source: Sudbury Star (CN ON) Copyright: 2008 The Sudbury Star Contact: http://www.thesudburystar.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/608 Referenced: Left to Die http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n417/a06.html NEW LAW WOULD REMEMBER TEEN Tierney Dietz died in a stranger's home March 1 of a drug overdose. She was just 18 years old. Her death, shrouded by a series of unanswered questions, is a tragedy on many levels, as articulated by her grieving mother, Nancy Dean. The Star's Laura Stradiotto captured their story in Saturday's Accent feature. Tierney's death is first and foremost a testament to the dangers of drug abuse. She battled her addictions and had made a real effort to turn her life around. For awhile, she was clean and attending Cambrian College. But somewhere along the way, Tierney slipped and wound up in the Lively home of a 47-year-old man who gave her and a friend cocaine. Some time later, she went into convulsions. No one came to Tierney's aid. Based on the story Dean has pieced together, it was another two hours before her daughter's body was taken to hospital. By then, it was too late. Tierney's death, Dr. Chris Bourdon told The Star, was entirely preventable, if someone had cared enough to just pick up the phone and call 911. An ambulance station was just one kilometre away. "If you look at the circumstances, I believe that this is something that didn't have to happen," said Bourdon, medical director of the emergency department of Sudbury Regional Hospital. "This is a survivable event, if care and attention (was) provided to her immediately." For Dean, losing her daughter is bad enough. Knowing that Tierney could have been easily saved is even harder for her to accept. All it would have taken was a simple act of human decency. "I'm just really shocked, as is everyone I know, that it's OK to see someone in obvious medical distress and not do anything," Dean told Stradiotto. In fact, Canada has no law compelling us to help those in distress. Unless you're trained to perform a medical intervention, you don't have a legal obligation to help in a crisis, said Rosanna Langer, an associate professor of law and justice at Laurentian University. Maybe it's time for Canada to follow the lead of some European countries, such as Germany, the Netherlands and France. There, people have a legal duty to come to someone's aid if the person is in a life-threatening situation and can be helped without danger to the rescuer. Such a law seems reasonable and, dare we say it, civilized. Most Canadians would see it that way. Indeed, most of us would have helped Tierney. We shouldn't need such a law, but if we had one, then those who stood around and watched Tierney die could have been held to account. Perhaps they were too drunk or stoned to actually help, but as it stands now, police can do nothing. Of course, it has to be said that Tierney's decision to ingest cocaine was her own, and it speaks to the havoc and heartache drug use can cause. Deputy Police Chief Frank Elsner told The Star that cocaine use in Greater Sudbury is on the rise due to strong economic times in the city. Elsner said gangs, mostly from the Toronto area, are bringing the drugs to Sudbury. He said police are trying to discourage such activity with raids and strict enforcement. "We're trying to prove to them this is a terrible market." It is an ongoing battle, but one worth fighting. Just ask Nancy Dean. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake