Heartbroken sister breaks silence after brother dies in mass overdose

The sister of a man who died in a mass overdose has made a heart-wrenching plea to Aussies to not risk their lives and avoid taking drugs.

Michael Hodgkinson, 32, was one of four people found dead in the loungeroom of a unit in Broadmeadows, north Melbourne, just after 2am on June 25. 

Police on Thursday revealed a synthetic opioid had been found in the system of Mr Hodgkinson, Abdul El Sayed, 17, and an unidentified man and woman, aged 32 and 42.

The Department of Health released a warning this week about cocaine in Melbourne being sold laced with the synthetic opioid protonitazene, which is 100 times more potent than heroin. 

Its strength and sedative effects can lead to respiratory depression – shallow breathing – or to an overdose, especially when paired with other drugs or alcohol.

Mr Hodgkinson’s devastated sister, Nicole Hodgkinson, pleaded with Aussies to ‘not take the chance’ with drugs.

‘This drug is going to ruin so many families,’ Ms Hodgkinson told the Herald Sun. 

‘Be aware of what you are putting in your body because, at the end of the day, it is your family who is going to suffer the consequences.’

Ms Hodgkinson said her family will forever carry the pain of her brother’s death as they ‘never got to say goodbye’.

She remembered her brother as a good man who would ‘try and make you laugh’ no matter what he was dealing with in his own life.

‘Our family will never be the same, Michael was a great person who sadly made a bad choice,’ Ms Hodgkinson said.

The plasterer was the eldest of six siblings and an uncle to five nephews and nieces.

Ms Hodgkinson and younger sister, 26-year-old Jamie, said they had travelled home from Tasmania to start the gruelling task of collecting his belongings.

Police are yet to confirm whether the four deaths can be directly linked to protonitazene as forensic results are not expected back for several weeks.

The health department have linked the horror drug to overdoses across Victoria and interstate, including one death in South Australia.

Authorities there warned it was being mixed with other drugs, making it hard to identify where it had come from. 

‘There have been recent serious harms in Melbourne associated with a white powder sold as cocaine that contained protonitazene,’ the department’s warning stated.

‘The product appears to produce such as loss of consciousness, respiratory depression, and life-threatening hypoxia (insufficient oxygen for normal functioning).’

It added the drug’s sedative effects and strength compared to cocaine’s stimulant effects could lead to an overdose.

The warning further stated respiratory depression also appears more quickly with novel synthetic opioids. 

Taking protonitazene with alcohol, other prescription drugs such as Xanax or Valium or recreational drugs such as GHB can also increase the risk of an overdose. 

The deaths are being treated as non-suspicious as forensic tests and investigations into the deaths remain ongoing.

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