An introduction of several goats into the life of Nova Scotia’s Brendon Meister has helped him recover from a drug overdose that left him with brain damage.
Meister overdosed on crystal meth tainted with an opioid while living in Toronto in 2016. The overdose left Meister clinically dead for 30 minutes.
Meister was in a coma for three weeks and when he awoke, his family decided to move him back to Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley, where they lived, for recovery.
Returning to a version of normalcy proved long and challenging for Meister as he needed to relearn how to walk and talk. Meister also had no recollection of several family members who were taking care of him.
Jasmine Lomond, Meister’s step-sister, got the idea to bring in some goats to help with her step-brother’s recovery. She hoped taking care of the animals would get him moving again.
“He was a little skeptical in the beginning but he came around,” Lomond told CTV Atlantic.
The plan worked as Meister’s progress began to speed up almost immediately.
“He wakes up with a smile every single day,” said Kevin Meister, Brendon’s father. “He's becoming productive. The change is amazing.”
The idea panned out so well, in fact, that the family started a bathroom accessory business called Maritime Treasure. The family milks the goats by hand and turns the milk into specialty soaps and other bath products.
“That was all Jasmine's idea and it's going pretty well,” said Brendon. “We sell them at markets and I think they're in a couple stores.”
The Meister family’s use of goats in the healing process is not unheard of. An addiction facility in Maryland began a program in December that allows for young men in their care to provide for five goats as a means of teaching the men “responsibility and caring,” their website reads.
“(The goats) will -- most importantly -- give the men unconditional love, companionship and purpose,” the Ashley Addiction Treatment facility says.
With a report from CTV Atlantic’s Heidi Petracek
