As a freshman in high school, Jacob Burdette wanted to escape. He started with marijuana before experimenting with psychedelics and heroin.
He overdosed from heroin twice as a teenager and was saved by paramedics, both times in his family’s home in Grapevine.
The first time, his mother LeAnne watched paramedics administer Narcan to Jacob, which saved his life. After he survived, she underwent opioid overdose training so she could help Jacob in case of an emergency.
“We heard a big thud in the bathroom,” she says. “We ran in and did compressions and applied Narcan that we kept because we knew he was using.”
It wasn’t working, but paramedics were on the way.
“We could not get him to respond,” she says. “By the time paramedics got there, they administered four Narcan and had to take him to the ICU.”
Jacob did recover, but later was arrested for drug possession and broke his probation. The judge gave him two options: two years in prison or a military-style rehab facility in San Angelo. Jacob went through the program, and eventually relocated to a sober living program in Austin, where he would have his third overdose. His fourth was his last.
On Sept. 11, 2019, Jacob was found unresponsive in his car, which was still running, in a parking lot in Austin. He had just gotten out of his third rehab stint. He was 23 years old.
“Jacob and I were incredibly close,” Burdette says. “We talked a lot about his journey. But you can beg and beg someone to stop doing drugs, but until they’re ready to stop, they’re not going to.”
According to the CDC, Jacob was one of 70,630 people who died of a drug-related overdose in 2019. In 2022, that number jumped to almost 108,000 — nearly 300 per day.
“Nobody ever grows up saying, 'I want to be a drug addict,'” says Leanne Burdette. “It’s a disease.”
Two police officers came to her door to inform her of the news. In an instant, everything changed for the Burdette family.
“He would’ve been 28 this year,” she says. “He had such a calming spirit, just so loving and giving. It was really something I strive for.”
Burdette started a nonprofit called Jacob’s Journey to share her son’s story as a cautionary tale. In January, Jacob’s Journey earned 501(c)(3) status. With this, Burdette wants to ensure that everyone is educated about Narcan: how to properly use it and where to find it.
“It’s an opioid antagonist,” she says. “Everybody should carry it.”
Narcan is a brand name for naloxone, a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose, enabling a person affected to resume breathing. It can be administered via a nasal spray or injection into muscle, skin or veins. Most people just refer to naloxone as Narcan, similar to Kleenex. It’s sold over the counter at most pharmacies or drug stores. Yet many addicts (and those close to them) are resistant to the idea of keeping it handy, for different reasons.
“People say, ‘I don’t want that, people will think I’m an addict,’” Burdette says. “There’s still such a stigma.”
To combat this, Burdette is taking to the streets to distribute Narcan and educate others about it. So far, she’s donated Narcan to the Keller, Carrollton and North Richland Hills police departments. During events, she’s partnered with the Irving Arts Center and Grapevine Farmers Market to set up a table for Jacob’s Journey.
“Most police officers are the first ones on the scene,” Burdette says. “They have money set aside for Narcan, but we want them to use those resources for something else. We have it and we’re happy to donate it.”
Burdette sources the Narcan from the University of Texas nurses department’s "SHIFT" program, which makes the life-saving drug readily available for all students.
This weekend, Burdette has her biggest event yet. North TX Awareness Day 2024 is an annual affair that takes over the lawn of the Denton Courthouse in the center of the city. It’s an international holiday created in 2001 by the Salvation Army in Melbourne, Australia. North Texas’ first celebration was in 2018.
Jacob’s Journey is a title sponsor for the event, which includes guest speakers, live music and a memorial to those lost to drug overdoses. Burdette will speak before the guests, telling Jacob’s story and her own. Her story is tailored for parents, whether they’re facing a situation similar to hers or not. Her message is clear.
“Now’s the time to start having those hard conversations,” she says. “Before they get to 17, 18, when they’re out of the house, the biggest thing you can do is try to have an honest conversation with your child.”