CHRISTENA OVERCAME ADDICTION; PARENTS TROUBLED BY HER DEATH

John Constible loved his daughter Christena so dearly that he took a year's
leave of absence from his job so he could help her kick a heroin addiction.
And, together, they experienced sweet victory.

With her parents' profound depth of love and support, Christena overcame
her heroin addiction in January of 1999 - only to die little more than a
year later, on May 12, 2000, from an overdose of methadone and a mixture of
prescription drugs.

The perverse irony of her untimely death rankles her parents. Christena,
20, was under the medical supervision of Dr. James Swanney when she died.
Fraser Valley head coroner Marj Paonessa is conducting a public inquest at
the Matsqui Centennial Auditorium this week to determine the cause of
Constible's death.

"I told Swanney to quit giving her so many drugs," said John as he
testified before the inquest yesterday. He said he was furious about the
amount of prescription drugs Christena was consuming.

"I told him (Swanney) that he was no different that a drug dealer on the
streets," said John as he recounted the heart-breaking events leading to
the death of his youngest daughter.

Five different prescription drugs were present in Christena's bloodstream
when she suddenly stopped breathing as she slept on her parent's couch.
What probably caused her death was a combination of prescription drugs, in
particular a concentration of methadone that would have been lethal to a
non-tolerant person, testified toxicologist Dr. Stuart Huckin.

In addition, an anti-depressant called Venlafaxine was found at levels four
times higher than the typical therapeutic range, said Huckin, adding that
the combination would have been lethal.

Christena's mother Carolyn Constible, a clerical assistant at Margaret
Stenersen elementary testified that her daughter had been on methadone, but
had weaned herself off the drug.

Carolyn wept on the coroner's stand Tuesday, cupping her head in her hands
as she recalled how she and husband John began a long, desperate quest in
1998 to try to get help for her daughter.

Christena, her mom said, was a dynamic, energetic, vivacious young woman
who could run five and 10-kilometre marathons. She had a zest for life,
said Carolyn, noting that at one point she even convinced her mom and dad
to take up swing dancing.

Christena made the fatal mistake of trying cocaine and then moved on to
heroin at the age of 18, due to the influence of a controlling boyfriend.
She was soon hooked, losing weight, with the circles under her eyes growing
darker with every injection of the drug. She wanted to quit. She hated the
addict's lifestyle.

Her parents tried desperately to find a drug treatment centre that would
accept their daughter. Peardonville House turned them down. Other
facilities were full.

"We kept running into roadblocks," testified her dad, John.

She managed to get into a Salvation Army detox centre in Vancouver for one
week in 1998. But that was it. Thereafter, Christena decided to go on
methadone in January of 1999, under Swanney's medical supervision.

She experienced a dramatic improvement to her life with the methadone
treatment, testified her dad. Christina started attending UCFV.

But life started falling apart when she weaned herself off methadone. Her
last dose was in mid-March of 2000.

A litany of prescription drugs was ordered. Swanney prescribed Paxil, for
example, which made Christina's skin crawl and made her feel worse, said John.

In a tormenting frame-of-mind, Christena slashed her wrists and was
admitted to the MSA General Hospital psychiatric ward on April 4. She was
admitted again on April 16 for her troubled mental condition.

Her dad tried to get her admitted to the University of B.C. for specialized
adolescent care - but -he was refused.

John said he had no idea what all the prescription drugs were doing to
Christina. She was anxious, jittery and restless. He said she was taking
the drugs as prescribed. However, he added, she was also out of control.
One day, she took 45 Valium pills. On another, she downed a half-bottle of
the anti-depressant chloral hydrate.

On May, 11, 2000, after a desperate, anxious day of trying to get medical
help, Christena and her mother arrived in Swanney's office. Swanney decided
to get Christena back on methadone and produced two vials of green liquid
methadone.

She swallowed one vial in front of him.

Christena's mother said she asked Swanney why the liquid was green, since
methadone was typically orange in colour. She said Swanney replied that he
had run out of Tang. Christena took the second vial of methadone home with her.

She ate a meal of barbecued chicken and potatoes and Carolyn noticed that
she was choking on the food. Sometime later that evening, she noted the
second vial given to her daughter was empty.

Christena seemed tired and exhausted, Carolyn said, so she went to lay down
at about 10:30 p.m. and was soon snoring on the couch.

Her mom wrapped her in a blanket.

In the early morning, at about 1 a.m., Carolyn got up and put her hand on
Christena's forehead and found it cool. She tried to wake her, but her
daughter wasn't breathing.

"I realized that something was very, very wrong. I couldn't get her to wake
up." Carolyn testified.

Christena was pronounced dead at MSA General Hospital. The inquest is
scheduled to concluded tomorrow.