911 call played at inquest into UVic student's fatal fentanyl overdose

Karin Larsen · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 29, 2025 9:05 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

The 911 telephone placed by a dorm-mate arsenic University of Victoria pupil Sidney McIntyre-Starko was suffering a fatal fentanyl overdose was played for the assemblage connected time 2 of the coroner's inquest into the 18-year-old's death.

Known lone as "Student 2," the dorm-mate, McIntyre-Starko and different female, "Student 3", had each snorted what was aboriginal determined to beryllium a premix of cocaine and fentanyl in a bath of UVic's Sir Arthur Currie pupil residence.

Within minutes of ingesting the drugs, McIntyre-Starko and Student 3 some passed out, started having seizures and started turning blue, according to testimony. 

The names of Student 2 and Student 3 are nether a work ban.

The telephone to 911 runs astir 16 minutes. Confusion implicit the sanction and determination of the dorm takes up the archetypal 3 ½ minutes of the recording, astatine which point the 911 relation asks for the archetypal time, "Tell maine precisely what happened?"

"I'm not sure," replies Student 2. "Two of my friends person started seizing ... They walked successful and they passed retired connected the floor." She does not archer the 911 relation that they had conscionable taken drugs.

Student 2 assures the 911 relation that her 2 unconscious friends are breathing. The 911 relation past asks if either of the victims is pregnant, diabetic, epileptic oregon has a past of changeable oregon encephalon tumour, to which Student 2 responds, "No." 

Approximately 7 minutes into the call, the 911 relation says she is sending the paramedics arsenic soon arsenic possible. Eight and a fractional minutes in, a antheral field information serviceman replaces Student 2 connected the line. At the 11-minute mark, the 911 relation asks the field information officer: "[Is determination a] anticipation they've taken something?"

"Unknown," helium replies. 

'High probability they've taken something'

Two minutes later, 13 minutes into the call, the field information serviceman tells the 911 operator: "There's a precocious probability they've taken something, according to 1 of the residents here."

At that point, the 911 relation instructs the information serviceman to "administer 1 Narcan each."

After confirming each diligent has been fixed a dose of Narcan, the field information officer tells the 911 operator: "I don't deliberation I'm getting a pulse connected this one."

A antheral dependable is past heard saying, "Sidney, tin you perceive me? Sidney, aftermath up!"

The telephone ends a fewer moments aboriginal erstwhile archetypal responders with the occurrence section arrive at the scene.

On Monday, Student 2 testified that she didn't retrieve overmuch astir the 911 telephone oregon her interactions with field information officers. 

"I retrieve I was trying to archer [the 911 operator] wherever we were located. I don't retrieve [the 911 operator] asking if we had taken anything. I retrieve telling her that they were seizing and turning blue," she said.

Student 2 testified she didn't instantly archer the 911 relation oregon field information officers that she and her friends had taken drugs due to the fact that she was acrophobic of getting successful trouble. 

'I should person said something'

"I didn't recognize it was going to extremity similar this," she said. "I recognize I should person said thing ... I honestly couldn't accidental for definite what I was reasoning astatine the time." 

Student 3 was revived by the Narcan, but she and Student 2 refused to spell to the infirmary erstwhile McIntyre-Starko was transported. They called for an ambulance later that night. 

Student 3 was excused from testifying astatine the inquest owed to aesculapian reasons. Instead, a connection she prepared was work into the record. 

Coroner's tribunal besides heard grounds Tuesday from UVic pupil witnesses Amirah Ali and Kyra Herriott that has called into question immoderate of the accusation contained successful a report the assemblage commissioned into McIntyre-Starko's death.

Written by erstwhile Abbotsford constabulary main Bob Rich, the study states that UVic information officers had to propulsion done an "estimated 20 oregon 30 onlookers" successful the hallway to get to the unconscious victims.

"These onlookers continued to mill around, property in, and marque noise... The students successful the hallway were not quiet. That interference and sound made it much hard to perceive if Sidney was breathing," the study says.  

But Ali and Herriott, who some tried to assistance the victims, said determination was nary assemblage whatsoever successful the hallway.

"Seeing arsenic determination were nary onlookers, they weren't milling around," Ali told the court.

The inquest continues connected Wednesday and is scheduled to tally done to the extremity of adjacent week.

Coroners' inquests bash not delegate blasted but are nationalist inquiries that purpose to find the circumstances surrounding a death.

At the decision of testimony, the five-person coroner's assemblage volition marque non-binding recommendations to forestall akin deaths successful the future.