VIDEO: Vernon store employee assists man lying face down in the snow when others walked by | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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VIDEO: Vernon store employee assists man lying face down in the snow when others walked by

James Auger points to the place where a man was found unconscious Monday afternoon, Feb. 19, 2017.

VERNON - When James Auger came around the corner of the Wholesale Club Gas Bar looking for his friend, the store clerk, she was struggling to roll over the body of a man lying lifelessly, face down in the snow while half a dozen people watched.

It was around noon on Monday, Feb. 19, and the man was lying in the snow, just outside the downtown Vernon gas station, Auger says, pointing to an indent in the snow.

“His lips were blue, he was gone,” Auger says, or so he thought.

Paramedics showed up within minutes and managed to revive him, Auger says, indicating it appeared the man had overdosed.

“The paramedics got him back, he was breathing. I saw breath in him — but he did die twice. He was dead when she got there, and she got him breathing again, and he went back under again. The paramedic injected him and got him going again,” Auger says.

The man was taken away in an ambulance, and Auger has not seen him since.

Meanwhile, a Facebook post about the incident has generated numerous comments and reactions on a local forum. The post describes how multiple people walked past the man without stopping to help before the store employee went out to assist him. The rattled gas bar clerk declined an interview with iNFOnews.ca about her efforts, but confirmed what happened.

Image Credit: Facebook

For Auger, who lives near the Wholesale Club and often visits his friend at the gas bar, it’s become a common sight to see people using drugs and passing out on the ground.

“It happens every day, every Welfare Wednesday and especially on the weekends here in this area,” Auger says.

He says it’s not unusual for someone to be lying on the ground, motionless, while others walk past.

Auger has observed open drug use in the parking lot, drug deals, thefts and aggressive behaviour and says it’s a huge problem.

“They need housing,” Auger says. “Not shelters, housing. All of these people, that’s all they ever talk about.”


To contact a reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston or call 250-309-5230 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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