From star athlete to addiction: a B.C. student's journey

When Devin Hinchey was 16 years old, he was one of Canada's top competitive squash players.

Then a serious drug addiction derailed his dream.

"I'm 19 years old and entering rehab,"Hinchey told All Points West host Robyn Burns.

"I hadplayed on the junior national team for Squash Canada, I had a lot of friends. It waskind of hard to grasp: this is where I'm at right now."

• 'A small Band-Aid on a big cut': Vancouver firefighters race to revive fentanyl addicts
• 'It's like pulling teeth': No treatment bed for B.C. fentanyl addict who returned from the dead
• 'There's definitely blood on the premier's hands': B.C. government fails to deliver fentanyl crisis fix

That was then.

Today, Hinchey has been sober for nearly two years and hopes to help others by becoming a counsellor through Vancouver Island University.

Lost count of friends killed

With B.C. experiencing a public health emergency because of a growing overdose crisis, Hinchey needs no reminder of the importance of that work.

Now living in Nanaimo, he said he and his friends in recovery have lost so many people they care about to overdoses, they've lost count.

"It's gotten to the point where once somebody in our recovery community when they do pass because of an overdose, people don't even ask anymore," he said. "Everyone just knows now. It's fentanyl."

Hinchey said improved awareness about the drug is a good start, but he said people may not know the particular dangers involved for people who relapse.

"We've pushed our bodies to the limit and then we take ourselves right out of that," he said.

"When people go back to that, it can be a snap of a finger and your life is gone."

With files from CBC Radio One's All Points West

To hear the full story, click the audio labelled:From star athlete to drug addiction: a B.C. student's recovery journey