Natasha Heim Memorial Concert

The following is a transcript of a speech given by Isobel Naden at a memorial concert held for her daughter Natasha who tragically died in December last year at the age of 19. She tells a poignant story about an amazing person taken from us by a drug overdose. Nannies 4 Grannies supports Isobel in her fight against drugs and the terrible people that sell them. Read on.

"Hi, my name is Isobel and I am Natasha’s mum

First of all I want to thank you all for coming here today to support Natasha! and to listen to the amazing music. Thank you to Ben Burt and Pirate Entertainment for organising the show. Thank you to all the bands that are performing tonight. Thank you to Lea and Joti for organising the amazing t shirts. And thank you to every else involved in this amazing celebration of Natasha’s short life.

Music was a huge part of Natasha’s life and she met many friends and shared many good times through her love of the scene. She would have been so touched to know that you guys have done this for her.

But sadly, as you of course know, Natasha is no longer with us. I hate for this to be a big buzz kill, but I feel the need to address the reasons why.! Natasha died from a drug overdose! She died after taking a man-made synthetic Opiode called U-47700 or more commonly known as ‘pink’. This was sold to her by a so-called ‘college friend’/drug dealer who assured her that it was good stuff. This is a drug that has not been tested on humans or animals, is made in China and sold on the internet. It is a drug that is 7 times more powerful that morphine and is known to have killed at least 80 people last year alone. This is a drug that is highly addictive and after only 3 uses, sucked Natasha in and killed her. That is terrifying.

I don’t want to preach to the crowd but if me being up here talking to you can possibly save a life, then Natasha would not have died in vain. I know that many of Natasha’s friends tried to warn her but of course she wouldn’t listen. She said that she is doing well at school, has a job, seeing a therapist, is having fun. She has this under control. Well don’t be fooled. That wasn’t the case at all - this highly addictive synthetic drug rapidly had her under control. The point is, this can happen to anyone :( So PLEASE, spread the word - you could save a life.

People have asked me what should I do to prevent this and my answer is “ If you have a friend that is struggling with addiction or you see casual drug usage getting out of control, and the friend doesn’t want to listen, go higher. My niece has a friend that is struggling with heroin addiction and she asked me should she talk to his parents. I said yes but she said ‘but if I do that, he won’t talk to me again’. My response to that was if you don’t do anything, you won’t talk to him again because he will be dead! Addicts blame everyone, are angry at anyone and they lie, but they do seek forgiveness once they are clean.

Synthetic drugs are becoming a lethal epidemic - whatever your ‘friends’ might tell you. Stay away from them!

At the end of the day, I do not want anyone to go through the excruciating pain that I am going through, and that her family and close friends are going through. I miss Natasha every day. Please be aware and please be safe.

But on a brighter note, it is my absolute pleasure to introduce the final band of the evening - the one, the only ANATOMY DECAY!!!!"

RIP Natasha.