Laying my brother to rest!
Our brother Ray, as he was known to most of us, overdosed on fentynal, Saturday, Sept 16th. Paramedics administered Naloxone over the 45 min and were able to get a pulse with the second dose, Dr's would continue to work on him in the ER for an additional hour and were able to stabilize him. Unfortunately he had severe brain damage and tests would later confirm that he was brain dead. He was moved to the ICU and placed on life support.
Our family came together and surrounded him with love and held ceremony each day. My sister would read posts and well wishes each morning from friends and family who were not able to be at his side.
Raymond Edward Boucher, would make his final journey to the Spirit World with his family by his side on Wednesday, September 20th, but not before donating his organs to 4 receipients. It brings the family great comfort knowing our brother was able to give the gift of life to other families.
Ray was the 10th of 15 children. He was a Son, Father, Grand-father, Great-grandfather, Uncle, Cousin, and friend to many. He was very active, and enjoyed hiking and biking everywhere. He was a father to 7 children, grandfather to 11 children, and great-grandfather to 1. He spent alot of time recording his children growing up, whether it was through pictures or video.
Ray was the unofficial family videographer. He captured many gatherings of our family, where most of them we seemed to be eating cake. There is hours and hours of footage which has brought comfort to each of us and the great memories that were shared.
Unfortunately Ray did not have a will or any personal documentation to help with preparing and planning of his final wishes. We encourage people to ensure that they have those things in order, in case of such an emergency. Only a percentage of his final expenses are being covered. We will need to come up with an additional $3000 to cover those costs. We would like to thank everyone in advance for any contributions. We will leave this up till Sunday, October 1st.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to those families who might be dealing with similar situations. It has been an education for our family and we encourage people to look at getting more information on using Naloxone and carrying it with them. We honor our brother for giving the gift of life and say Chi-meegwetch for this!!! We also would thank the the staff at St. Paul's Hospital's Paramedics, and the Nurses, Doctors and social workers in the ICU for taking good care of our brother and our family. To the Elder and his helpers Chi-meegwetch for the songs, prayers, and ceremony they lead for us each day, and our brother's final journey.
