Hyme Gunnell (left) and Shelley O'Dwyer with their son Jacob Gunnell. The couple are fundraising for drug-checking after Jacob died when he jumped from an overpass while under the influence of LSD.
Hyme Gunnell (left) and Shelley O'Dwyer with their son Jacob Gunnell. The couple are fundraising for drug-checking after Jacob died when he jumped from an overpass while under the influence of LSD.
Their gym instructor son loved to help others reach their goals, and now Jacob Gunnell’s parents have a goal of their own.
The North Shore couple are raising money to help the NZ Drug Foundation check partygoers’ drugs at festivals, and beyond, this summer so no other family has to go through losing a loved one, as they had.
Tomorrow, Shelley O’Dwyer and Hyme Gunnell, with their younger son, wider family and friends and some of Gunnell’s former gym clients, will take part in two special fitness classes at Auckland Council’s Glenfield gym and Les Mills in Takapuna, where Jacob Gunnell was an instructor before he died on December 30 last year.
“We’re doing this to bring awareness to Jacob’s story, to keep his name out there, to honour him and to help others”, O’Dwyer said.
“We’ll do anything to bring awareness, because we don’t want others to go through what we are going through in losing a child. It’s hard every day … Jacob had so much to live for.”
Gunnell jumped to his death from a central Auckland overpass while under the influence of LSD.
His parents acknowledge he chose to take an illegal drug, a decision for which the 24-year-old paid the ultimate price, but they also found out later that he would plan ahead to ensure he did so in a safe environment and would, where possible, get them tested first.
The fundraiser would help others do the same, O’Dwyer said.
Most Kiwis are oblivious to the number of people who die in New Zealand of drug overdoses, says Drug Foundation executive director Sarah Helm.
The legalised drug checking by the Drug Foundation, KnowYourStuffNZ and Disc Trust, with support from the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR), had already saved lives, said foundation executive director Sarah Helm.
“Hand on heart, we saved lives at R&V. Increasingly we are seeing more adulteration [mixing of drugs or use of substitutes] of substances, and more new, potent substances being identified in our drug-checking clinics.”
Testers also offered non-judgmental advice to reduce the risk of harm from taking drugs, such as telling people to avoid mixing drugs and alcohol, a depressant which could affect their breathing when consumed with certain drugs.
“Often people tell us that’s the first time anyone’s ever had a sensible conversation with them about drug use.”
Gunnell’s parents were doing “something extraordinary with the terrible situation that’s happened to them”, and amid stigma around loss connected to drug use, including overdose, Helm said.
“Between 2013 and 2021, overdose deaths increased nearly five-fold to 171 people in 2021, putting the overdose death toll ahead of national drownings and over half the road toll from the same year.
“Most New Zealanders would be oblivious to that.”
Those using party drugs, like LSD, are being encouraged by the NZ Drug Foundation to get them checked before use. Photo / 123RF
Those taking drugs, or their worried friends and family, should get or encourage the checking of those drugs.
If drug-checking wasn’t available in their area people could do home tests with kits from companies like Cosmic NZ.
“It doesn’t tell you what else is in the substance, but it will tell you if there is the drug you thought is present, and that’s better than doing nothing.”
Jacob hadn’t originally planned to take LSD on the night of his death so didn’t follow his usual precautions, including a “safe person to help ground him”, O’Dwyer said.
He became confused and he ran away from the house he was in.
The coroner’s investigation has yet to be finalised, but after seeing CCTV footage of their son’s fatal jump his parents believe he mistook a motorway overpass for a fence.
“There’s a flax area in between the motorways. We think … he saw the flax, and his perception with the drugs, he just jumped over.”
Jacob Gunnell was planning his pandemic-delayed OE when he died after taking LSD in December last year. He was 24.
They hadn’t previously known their son, who enjoyed a fun, busy social life, kept diaries with detailed plans of his career goals and wanted to go on his pandemic-delayed OE, had experimented with the class A drug.
Speaking about it meant others might be saved, O’Dwyer said.
A safety plan that included having a sober, drug-free person to supervise and instructions to call for help if someone’s mood changes, or their life is in danger, could be the difference between life and death.
“We can’t stop people taking drugs. But we can make sure they’re taking it in a safe environment.”
* The NZ Drug Foundation’s “straight-up” guide for people using alcohol and other drugs can be found at thelevel.org.nz
Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.
