ADAM BEADLE'S LAST DAYS

His determination to become drug-free was so strong that Adam Wayne
Beadle walked most of the way from Duncan to Campbell River to enter
a rehabilitation program.

"He walked a great distance and he hitch-hiked when he could," said
Wendy Conover. "He was determined to seek treatment."

On day three of a coroner's inquest into the death of Beadle, the
jury heard from Conover, a registered nurse who coordinates the
Campbell River Hospital's drug and alcohol treatment programs, and
Dr. Anna Kindy, sometimes referred to during this inquest as the
"methadone doctor."

Beadle was 27 years old when he died near midnight March 2, in a
Campbell River RCMP jail cell. Before being taken into custody, he
had taken a lethal combination of hard drugs culminating in
respiratory failure mainly due to an overdose of methadone.

When he arrived in Campbell River a week earlier on Feb. 23, Beadle
was literally on the road to a new life but his old habits quickly
caught up with him.

A urinalysis conducted at Dr. Kindy's clinic on Feb. 27 confirmed
that, other than hospital-prescribed valium, Beadle was "clean" of
cocaine and opiates. But three days later, a concoction of prescribed
methadone and street drugs killed him, and his family wants to know
why.

"We were all led to believe that Adam was getting treatment. If we
knew he wasn't following through, we would have come and got him,"
said Leonette Gibbons who then burst into tears during the Wednesday
morning break.

Gibbons is Beadle's aunt who is in Campbell River for the entire
inquest. She is joined by Adam's mother (Jeanette Beadle),
grandmother and sister. The four Cowichan Valley residents are
sharing a room at the Ramada Inn where the inquest is taking place.

"No one should have to go through what I went through," Jeannette
Beadle said in regard to her son's death. "I hope this is the last
man who dies needlessly in a police cell."

On Wednesday, the family had to endure more as Beadle's life was laid
bare during questions from six lawyers and five jurors.

.An amateur boxer in Duncan, Beadle stood six feet and weighed
between 250 and 270 pounds. In high school, he was described as quiet
and friendly, and as a new father, he was tender and caring for his
infant son Elmer. But there was also a mean streak which resulted in
street fights and run-ins with police.

When Beadle decided to leave Duncan for Campbell River last February,
he seemed ready to deal with his drug addiction. But he fell in with
a young party crowd, succumbed to his addiction and missed
opportunities to receive the treatment he desperately wanted.

He was supposed to enter the Second Chance 28-day rehabilitation
program, but on two occasions Beadle missed his appointments to be
admitted. And on the day of his death, an agitated Beadle was taken
by police to hospital but left without seeing Conover because he
wasn't under arrest and forced hospitalization is only possible if
someone is committed under the Mental Health Act.

When he was picked up by police later that day after he was
reportedly seen staggering through traffic and falling asleep while
standing, Beadle was not taken to hospital. He died roughly seven
hours later without seeing a doctor.

"He did not fall through the cracks," insisted Jonathon Brenner, a
registered nurse, who testified Tuesday that he attended to Beadle on
a few occasions at the hospital. "We were using all the community
resources but he wasn't latching onto the resources offered to him.

"There was so much time spent with Adam. From my perspective, and
that's nursing, everything was done."

On Feb. 27, Conover met Beadle for the first time. She said he seemed
anxious to get started with treatment. She agreed and that led to his
first visit to the methadone clinic run by Kindy.

According to Kindy, Beadle said he was using "nine to 10 points of
heroin a day" (10 points equals a gram).

"That's a pretty significant habit," noted Kindy who had earlier
said, "To be on methadone you need a significant history of heroin
addiction."

Taking into account his physical size and tolerance for drugs, Dr.
Kindy prescribed 60 mg. of methadone a day for Beadle which is
considered the high end of dosages.

"Most people weren't like Adam," she explained. "They didn't smoke a
gram a day."

During their short time together, Dr. Kindy warned Beadle of the
dangers from combining other drugs with methadone. It was advice he
didn't take and he died three days later.

"It's not unusual for patients starting the program to be 'dirty',"
Dr. Kindy said, referring to addicts who combine methadone with
street drugs. "But this is the first time a patient of mine on this
program has died since I started in '93.

"If I knew he was taking other drugs, I could have stopped his methadone."

The inquest was scheduled to wrap up around presstime Friday, but
given the volume of witnesses and questions, it could be looking at
overtime.