Three months ago Sherri Lynne Macdonald walked into the emergency room and admitted she was addicted to prescription drugs.
"It was the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever done in my life," she said. "Being a nurse, I never thought it would happen to me."
A cancer survivor who underwent countless operations, Macdonald has been abusing prescription drugs for more than 10 years. The Thunder Bay woman opted for treatment and has been using the Ontario Addiction Treatment Centre methadone clinic on Violet Street to curb her withdrawal symptoms.
It’s the best thing she’s ever done.
"I believe if there was no program, I probably would be dead," said the married mother of two.
The OATC clinic set to open in Westfort in August will make Macdonald’s life a little easier since it’s in her neighbourhood. While nearby businesses have expressed concern about the methadone clinic scaring people away from the area, Macdonald said people don’t have to lock their doors.
"We’re not criminals; we’re just people with addictions," she said, adding she was discouraged to hear one local business owner refer to the clinic’s clients as ‘those people.’ \
"We’re not ‘those people,’" she said. "We have illnesses. We just want to get help. Addicts are all walks of life; your neighbour can be an addict. I hid behind my addiction for 10 years. It can happen to anybody."
Education about the methadone clinic and what it does is something people should research because they’d discover addicts are just human, Macdonald said. She’s hoping her story will reach others who haven’t been able to admit they have a problem and let them know they don’t have to hide.
The Frederica Street clinic will bring the total number of OATC locations in Thunder Bay to three; this has led to many people in the community wondering why the city needs that many.
Macdonald said years ago she was blind to the amount of addiction in Thunder Bay, but she’s realized this is a big city and it needs clinics in different areas.
"Would you rather have someone breaking into your house stealing from you to try to pay for their addiction or would you rather have people getting help who don’t have to do that because this drug helps," she said. "I used to go to bed at night wondering how I was going to find my next fix the next day. I don’t do that anymore. I’m getting my life back."
