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‘People Pleaser’ Injects Pregnant Mother With Heroin During Labor

REUTERS/David Ryder

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Steve Birr Vice Reporter
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A pregnant woman going through labor demanded a friend inject her with heroin and meth before she let anyone call an ambulance for help.

Felicia Farruggia, a 29-year-old living in New Hampshire, was in “full labor and giving birth to a baby boy” at her home in September. Instead of calling 911, she attempted to inject herself with narcotics, according to court documents released Wednesday. After she was unable to inject herself, she demanded her friend, 37-year-old Rhianna Frenette, give her heroin and methamphetamine before calling emergency services, reports CBS Boston.

Concord Police Lt. Sean Ford said the pair showed “complete disregard really for the value of human life.” When authorities asked Frenette why she agreed to inject Farruggia with the drugs, she allegedly remarked, “I’m a people pleaser.”

“Frenette attempted to inject Farruggia with an unsanitary syringe at least once before she successfully delivered a dose of the drug,” the Concord Police Department said in a statement Wednesday.

Emergency services were called after Farruggia got her fix, arriving just in time to deliver the baby. Farruggia gave birth to a baby boy as EMTs were putting her into the ambulance. Authorities took Farruggia and the newborn to Concord Hospital where they stayed for several days.

Officials put the baby in state custody and arrested Farruggia and Frenette on charges of reckless conduct. Farruggia reportedly has a number of children, all in state custody.

New Hampshire experienced a 191 percent increase in heroin and opioid overdose deaths between 2011 and 2015, and the drug continues to plague the state. The opioid epidemic is wreaking havoc in the lives of young children whose parents abuse the substance, causing substantial increases in the need for foster care.

The problem is most visible in Ohio, one of the states hit hardest by the opioid epidemic. Opioids are the main driver of a 19 percent spike in the number of kids removed from parental custody for foster care since 2010 across Ohio.

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