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Project SaveME a lifesaver, mother says

Patricia Plummer credits the Paris Police Department with helping her son get on the road to recovery for his heroin addiction through Project SaveME.

Two upcoming fundraisers will assist the program, aimed at helping Oxford County residents overcome drug dependence.

Plummer shared her story at a recent roundtable with U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine. She said her 18-year-old niece died in September 2015 from a heroin overdose. Shortly after her death, Plummer’s 21-year-old son came to her.

“He said, ‘Mama, I’m doing heroin, too,’” Plummer recalled.

Since he admitted his drug use, he has been revived three times by Narcan, a drug that reverses opioid overdoses. Plummer wanted an officer to arrest her son and put him in jail so he would be away from the drugs.

“It’s not against the law to be high on heroin,” she said. “My son tried to detox himself. He wanted to in the worst way. He would sit home for two or three days throwing up, then he’d be gone. It’s a horrible thing to see.”

Plummer got in touch with Paris Interim Police Chief Jeff Lange, who started the Western Maine Addiction Task Force last summer to combat the growing heroin problem in the area.

From that grew Project SaveME, which is modeled after the Gloucester, Mass., Angel Program and pairs those battling addiction with “angels,” or coaches, to help them through the recovery process.

Every police agency in Oxford County is participating in Project SaveME, according to Lange, and in January, 12 recovery coaches completed training for the program.