Jade KIDS Foundation
The Jade Bell Story is the fascinating exploration into the life and mind of a young man who has been to hell and back. Blind, mute and immobile, Jade is the living example of what can happen if you survive an overdose of hard drugs.
Today, Jade will do anything to get his old life back, and by fighting his own heart breaking war against drug-addiction among youth, he believes it might just happen. A published poet he is now working with youth through his Jade KIDS Foundation to launch a music album and encourage kids to choose creativity over drugs.
Blind and unable to use his hands or body. But by moving my head from side to side, and touching sensors on each side, he am able to tap out messages using Morse code. A computer records his coded taps and translates them into words. Without this technology he would be silenced. He’s in this condition because of a heroin overdose.
RECOVERY
Since his “recovery,” He has devoted his life to helping students and parents understand the very real dangers of drug abuse. His is an effort to guide young people safely through the minefield of readily available drugs and alcohol. While most will make it through this challenge intact, some will not. He knows this because he is one of those young people who did not make it through intact.
In his adolescence he was a vibrant, charismatic young man. Some said he had everything – he was described as tall, handsome, intelligent, athletic and energetic. He excelled in most anything he set his mind to. Unfortunately, he also had a dark side. He actively indulged in alcohol and drugs. By the age of 18 he graduated, but his graduation was from soft drugs to hard drugs. Soon his drug of choice became heroin. He thought he would know when to stop. He was strong and smart. He thought nothing could hurt me.
OVERDOSE
In August 1997 the drugs proved they were more powerful than he was. The overdose did not kill him. Instead it did something more perverse: it put him into a coma. When he first woke he appeared unscathed. He had all of his faculties intact and was able to move normally. But the drugs were not done with him. He lapsed back into a coma. This time when he awoke my world was terribly different. He was blind, with a muscle disorder called Distonia that has fettered his mobility and left him confined to a wheelchair, in need of 24 hour attendant care. His body had abandoned him even though his mind and intellect remained completely intact.
He languished in this hellish place – not alive and not dead. He could hear the world around me, but not see it. His world was there before him and yet not there. Many would go insane in a state such as this. No doubt many have. He knew that insanity was a distinct possibility.
EDUCATING YOUTH
Yet, out of the depth of his darkness grew a seed of light, of hope, of meaning. He began to realise that he has been given this life for a reason:
“He has now dedicated his life to educating youth and parents on the dangers of drug use!”
Since realising that this is his purpose and role, he has “spoken” to more than 200,000 young people across Canada, and now he would like to bring his message to students everywhere.
His presentations have a dramatic effect. The presence of a young man trapped in a paralysed and blind body, whose voice is that of a computer, is compelling to even the most hardened or troubled young person. Many have openly wept in my presence and many more have vowed never to use drugs again. The damaging effects of drug use are all too evident to see. The film is directed by New Zealand’s Borderless Production’s Dean Easterbrook and Produced by Qiujing Wong
The Trailer
