'Save the next one' - Co Derry mum's emotional plea after son's drug death
A Co Londonderry mum has spoken of the heartbreaking details surrounding her son's death as part our 'Save The Next One' campaign.
Last updated 13th Mar 2018
Theresa Burke's son Kealan died in Glenullin at just 22 years of age in 2009, around 18 months after taking an overdose of methadone.
His mother said Kealan had suffered a long battle with prescription drug addiction before the events leading to his death.
It had led to him being faced with a choice between his girlfriend and continuing his drug abuse.
His mum said he became depressed when he chose drugs, as his addiction had such a strong grip on him.
In that harrowing year and a half leading up to his death, Kealan suffered enormously as that fateful overdose ravaged his body.
He received care from around the clock from a nursing home in that time.
"Apparently he knew nothing, they said he was in a permanent vegetative state," said Theresa.
"He was blind, he couldn't see, he was deaf. He had no swallow, so he had to be peg fed. He was quadriplegic, he was doubly incontinent, so he wore nappies, a 20-year-old boy wearing nappies.
The sight of her son with wires going in and out of him and his silent screams when anyone moved him, led the retired primary school teacher to some dark places.
"I said to one of my other sons, all I need to do is lift a pillow and out it over his head and he'd be dead, because it was so hard to watch," she said.
"I didn't do it, because I didn't have the courage.
"But if I had his permission, at that stage, because he couldn't talk to me... if I had his permission and it was legal, I wanted him dead."
Eventually, Kealan succumbed to septicemia, with his family choosing to let him die by not treating it, save for continuing his painkillers.
"They said it would take three weeks, but it took him about a week and a half," Theresa said.
"He died a year and a half after he took his overdose and it was a good day."
Theresa said she knows that could perhaps sound cold, but it was a desire to see her son's suffering that was chief in her thoughts.
"Whether he was in pain or frightened or what, I don't know, because he couldn't speak.
"If you moved him, if you were changing his nappy or cleaning him if he had vomited, he was screaming.
"And it was oh, it was so heartbreaking."
And the resilient mum had this message for those that are thinking of trying drugs or are currently using them.
"Could that be you? Could that be you on that bed with pipes coming in and out of you and you screaming?
"Could this be your mummy, your mother standing here crying, or your daddy or your granny or your brothers and sisters? Could that be you?
"We have to save at least one other child, or one other youngster, or one other family, from what we went through."
It was those words, urging us all to save someone else from the same fate that befell Kealan, that have inspired the name for our campaign.
Tomorrow, we'll have the second part of Theresa's interview, where she details how she hopes Kealan's life can become a legacy to prevent further heartache for families.
If you wish to contact us to tell us your story of how drugs have impacted your life, you can do so by emailing news@downtown.co.uk or if you wish to seek help for addiction issues, more information can be found here.