His mother ran outside and frantically used a small canister to squirt a drug up his nostrils.
Within minutes, his eyes opened and he sat up - brought back from a potentially lethal overdose by a drug commonly known by the brand name Narcan.
Narcan - or naloxone, its generic name - counteracts the effects of heroin, OxyContin and other powerful painkillers. It has been routinely used by ambulance crews and emergency rooms in the U.S. for decades.
But in the past few years, public health officials across the country have been distributing it free to addicts and their loved ones.
Advocates credit such giveaway programs with saving thousands of lives.
