An Edmonton-area father is speaking out after what he calls a “life-altering” encounter with the increasingly popular and potent drug fentanyl.

On Friday, just after 4 p.m., Jim Clark unknowingly came face-to-face with the real-life consequences of the illicit drug after his step-son’s girlfriend nearly died in the backyard of his Spring Lake home.

Clark’s step-son, Eric, 28, and his 22-year-old girlfriend had been watching movies and drinking the night before.

“They were a little hung-over like you would expect and then they [left] to get out of the house,” he said.

According to Clark, following a brief stop at a store Eric’s girlfriend started choking on a drink while they were in the car.

“There was actually a decision point, do I take her home or do I bring her back to our place? She didn’t really answer, so he [Eric] made the decision and brought her back to our place,” he explained.

That decision turned out to be life-changing.

“They got back [to our house]…she wanted to go outside to have a smoke, [Eric] went out to join her, [she] passes out, turns blue, stops breathing – and then the panic sets in,” he said.

Not aware she had knowingly ingested the illicit drug, Clark said Eric ran to get his mother.

“My wife and my son were looking at each other saying she’s going to die in our backyard, she’s going to die in our backyard.”

Emergency dispatchers walked Eric though how to perform CPR, which he did for 15 minutes before help arrived.

Paramedics, who called in STARS air ambulance, were able to revive the woman while still on scene – she later admitted to taking fentanyl.

“[EMS] figured out that she had overdosed. They didn’t know on what, but all the symptoms were of an overdose.”

Typically prescribed as a pain killer to patients in hospital, police in Canada say illicit and more potent versions of the drug are being made in illegal labs and sold on the streets.

According to Alberta Health Services, fentanyl is up to 100 times stronger than morphine or oxycodone.

"A minuscule amount of fentanyl can be fatal for an individual," said EPS chief Rod Knecht.

According to the medical examiner, fentanyl-related deaths have spiked in Alberta this year - 145 as of August.

“It’s an officer safety issue, it’s a public safety issue and it takes so little to suffer the consequences – you have to be aware of it,” said Knecht.

For Clark, it’s a lesson he wants people to learn without having to go through what his family did.

“My five-year-old [son] was ushered out of the house shortly after it happened. My [15-year-old] daughter, her boyfriend, and my 12-year-old son they all watched her die and then come back,” he explained.

The woman is expected to recover.

Spring Lake is located about 40 kilometres west of Edmonton.

With files from Breanna Karstens-Smith