Yorkton This Week 2019-02-20

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Stacy Neufeld

sneufeld@remax-yorkton.ca

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Volume 45, Issue 27 Price - $1.52 plus GST Return undeliverable items to: Yorkton This Week 20 Third Ave. N., Yorkton, SK S3N 2X3

Staff Photo by Cory Carlick

Collisions across Yorkton A collision at Hamilton Road and the Yellowhead Highway occurred on Friday near the onramp at Highway 16. Police and fire services personnel were onsite investigating. Roads were treacherous over the past week, as this

was one of several accidents in the city this past week, including a vehicle hitting KFC and a rollover on the exit to Queen St.

Province working to prevent opioid deaths By Devin Wilger Staff Writer The Government of Saskatchewan has launched an awareness campaign to prevent deaths from opioid overdoses. The goal of the campaign is to teach people to know the signs of an opioid overdoses. Those signs include shallow breathing, an inability to wake up, trouble walking or talking, pinpoint pupils, seizures, slow heartbeat and blue or clammy skin.

They also encourage people to get a take home Naxolone kit, especially if they are in a home where opiates are being used. While the Naxolone kit is recommended to help someone who is having an overdose, people are encouraged to call 911 if an overdose takes place for immediate medical attention. Naxolone kits include the drug itself, two safety syringes, two alcohol swabs, two non-latex gloves, a one-way rescue breathing barrier mask and a guide for steps to respond to an overdose. “An opioid overdose can happen to

anyone, whether the drugs were obtained legally or illegally. It is important to know the signs of an opioid overdose and how you can prevent one from becoming fatal,” said Health Minister Jim Reiter in a release. The Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act of 2017 does provide protection for people who call emergency services in the event of an overdose, even if illegal drugs are on the scene. The act protects people from charges of possession of a controlled substance, as well as breach of conditions which stem from a posses-

sion charge. In Yorkton, take home Naxolone kits can be picked up for free at the Turning Point Program at SIGN on Broadway. According to a list provided by the Pharmacy Association of Saskatchewan, kits can also be purchased at the following local pharmacies: Louck’s Medihealth Pharmacy, Pharmasave Yorkton, Save-on-Foods, Shopper’s Drug Mart, Superstore and Yorkton Pharmacy. Locations outside of Yorkton that offer Naxolone kits can be found at saskatchewan.ca/opioids.

Community helps Yorkton woman see again By Devin Wilger Staff Writer A Yorkton woman can see again thanks to the efforts of different community organizations. Claritza Volquez has Stargardt disease, a genetic degenerative eye disease. She was born with it, as was one of her brothers, though since the gene is recessive she has not passed the disease down to her children. In her case, the cones in her eye are affected, which makes it difficult for her to see in well-lit environments, though her rods are rela-

Your Community Connection

tively unaffected. “My family is very numerous, so when we found out, we investigated, and nobody has it. They don’t really understand why my brother and I have it... My grandma is 98 and she can still see. I don’t really understand why, but I’ve been learning that you don’t need to say why, you need to say okay and move forward.” Volquez works at the Family Resource Centre, and Kim Gelowitz with the FRC said that she noticed just how much memorization Volquez had to do in order to keep

up their programming. She kept up so well that many families did not know she was legally blind. “I did my job and I had to memorize everything, because I couldn’t see too much, or as good as the others,” said Volquez. “Here, things are moving and changing all the time, so she had to adapt,” Gelowitz added. Gelowitz researched to see what could be done to help her. She found out about eSight glasses. Looking surprisingly similar to the VISOR from Star Trek: The Next Generation, the glasses

use cameras to capture high-resolution video to display directly in front of the user. The footage is also enhanced for the user with software to work with their visual impairment, explains the eSight website. After a while, the glasses became available in Canada, but they were expensive – initially over $12,000, though the price has come down since – so it was beyond Volquez’s budget. They approached different groups to see if they were interested in sponsoring a set of the glasses for Volquez. Between GoFundMe,

Victory Church, the Yorkton Alliance Church and the Lion’s Club all got on board to help her raise money for the glasses. With the glasses going on sale in December, they had enough money to buy the glasses. The churches donated meals, with the Victory Church hosting a supper, and the Alliance Church auctioning off suppers with their members. Denny Vachon said that the Lions have long been involved with the CNIB and helping the blind. Helping Volquez was something that fit with what the Lions do in

the community, so they were happy to help assist her to get the glasses, along with the churches. “It really does take a community to help a family,” said Gelowitz. The glasses mean that Volquez can now do things other people take for granted, such as reading. She explained that without her glasses, someone sitting even relatively near was very blurry, but with the glasses on she could see them again. She also notes that she normally cannot see things very far away. Continued on Page A2.

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