US4 min(s) read
Published 12:37 18 Dec 2022 GMT
The Florida police officer who overdosed after being exposed to fentanyl during a traffic stop has spoken out about her near-death experience.
During a routine traffic stop on December 13, Officer Courtney Bannick of the Tavares Police Department drifted in and out of consciousness after accidentally ingesting fentanyl.
Speaking to Click Orlando on December 15, Bannick explained that she was on her way to her precinct to test the powerful narcotic - which is 100 times stronger than heroin - when she suddenly started gasping for air.
"As soon as I started talking, I was light-headed a little bit and started almost choking," she told the outlet. "I couldn’t breathe. I wasn’t getting enough air and I remember kind of wheezing, gasping."
The drug had been found during a traffic stop, with Bannick discovering it rolled inside a dollar bill. She was wearing gloves while handling the highly dangerous drug on the windy evening.
She told Fox News anchors Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer: "When opening the dollar bill, I partially opened it because I could feel something inside of it.
"I noticed a white powdery substance. I've dealt with fentanyl many times before, so I believe that's what it was. And I wrapped it back up, put it in there. We kind of sealed it away and went from there," she added.
Bannick said that she doesn't "really remember" much of the terrifying incident but knows that when she found the substance, it was "wrapped up into a dollar bill," so she took the initiative to warn her fellow officers.
"I think I was trying to explain to them where exactly the drugs that I believed I was exposed to at the time was out, so they were aware, so it didn't happen to them as well," she said.
As Bannick was on her way back to her vehicle, she began to feel "lightheaded" and "couldn't really talk," explaining: "I felt like I was choking."
"After watching the bodycam, now I hear myself, I was choking, but I remember consciously being aware I didn't think I was overdosing. That never went through my mind at the time," she added.
Despite the harrowing incident, the officer said that she responds to overdoses "almost every shift," and has administered Narcan to others many times in her job. She explained: "If it's not every shift, it's every other we deal with that. I would say I see fentanyl overdoses or in many people's possession almost weekly here."
During her interview with local reporters, Bannick - who was wearing surgical gloves while dealing with the narcotic - said she can’t clearly remember how she consumed the substance but suspects that she may have touched her face at some point.
"I’m very mindful that I don’t touch my face if I have gloves on, but did I wipe my nose with my wrist? I don’t know," she questioned.
The cop has since returned to work and requested that the distressing bodycam footage be released to shed light on the opioid’s lethal potency and explained that it is constantly developing.
"We're not dealing with pharmaceutical-grade fentanyl," she said. "Every day these street chemists are coming up with something because drug users are building a tolerance to it."
The officer is too familiar with how victims who overdose on fentanyl don’t recuperate and expressed her gratitude to her fellow colleagues who administrated three doses of Narcan.
"If I was searching that car alone, or testing those drugs alone, or whatever the case may be and I didn’t have Narcan available, there’s a good chance I wouldn’t be here right now," she said.
Fentanyl has been involved in a vast amount of drug-related deaths in the US, as its high potency means even a small amount can prove fatal.
The unnamed suspects involved in the traffic stop are now facing felony drug raps, according to The New York Post.
