Jake was given just six months to live, and now that deadline is closing in. As his body is wracked by a series of violent autonomic storms, his hospice nurse fears the worst. The final moments seem inevitable—last rites are read, and his wife prepares to say goodbye. But then, Jake comes face to face with death itself… and what happens next defies all expectations. Content warning: Drug use/abuse, addiction, death and dying, medical trauma, emotional distress & mature content. Resources can be found on our website, blinkthepodcast.com Blink is part of The Binge - subscribe to The Binge to get new episodes of Blink one-week early and all episodes completely ad-free. Just Hit ‘Subscribe’ at the top of the Blink show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com. The Binge – feed your true crime obsession. Find out more about The Binge and other podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices . . . . . Hosted and produced by Corinne Vien Co-created by Jake Haendel Original composition by Michael Marguet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: What content warnings should listeners be aware of?
Blink is intended for mature audiences as it discusses topics that can be upsetting, such as drug use, sexual assault, and emotional and physical violence. Content warnings for each episode are included in the show notes. Resources for drug addiction and domestic abuse can be found in the show notes and on our website, blinkthepodcast.com.
The testimonies and opinions expressed by guests of the show are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of myself or affiliates of this podcast. Any individuals mentioned in the episode are presumed innocent until proven guilty in the court of law unless explicitly stated otherwise. What drew me to Jake's story wasn't just the twists and turns.
Chapter 2: What is Jake's story and its challenges?
It was the way it challenges how we see people who are too often written off. Jake has this rare magnetism. Even as he lays bare his darkest moments, betrayal, violence, the ghosts of his past, there's no bitterness, it's just raw honesty. Somehow he finds understanding, for himself, for those who hurt him, for the pain that shaped them all. On paper, Jake is a lot of things.
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Chapter 3: How did heroin affect Jake and Ellen's life?
Jake was the one who introduced Ellen to heroin. It's an uncomfortable truth, one that he carries with deep regret. Heroin is horribly addicting, and even those who manage to break free live with this constant pull. There's always that lingering temptation.
And in the moments of immense stress, when the world feels unbearable, and you feel like you're barely surviving, the need for escape can become overpowering. Back when Jake was first diagnosed, his stepdad Eli and his wife Ina were trying to go visit him in the hospital.
We want to stop by the hospital. We actually drove halfway to Worcester and then she called and said the doctor said you can't come. So we went home. So then on the fourth day out, she said you can come and we came. So, I mean, Ella was controlling everything. That's the story from there on out, you know.
So we went and we came to his room and he was in the room and she was like a nurse, even though she wasn't a nurse, but she was taking care of everything, making the bed. She was like nonstop activity. And we're talking for like an hour. And then at some point she says, yeah, I was so stressed out. I went home last night and, you know, I shot up some heroin just to relax.
And so I and I looked at each other and we're like, Why don't we, let's, you know, let us take you home. We didn't want her to drive alone. I said, you can't be doing this stuff. So she actually went in and got the needle and the whatever and brought it out. And I drove around Worcester looking for a dumpster and I threw it. I'm like, shit, now I'll get stopped by the cops.
So I've got this heroin needle in my car, you know. And so, you know, we threw it away. And then we followed her to her parents' house. And we waited till her parents came home. I was honest, you know. And so she really should be here and not home alone doing all that.
Adrian, Jake's ex and dealer, also had a few heroin-related encounters with Ellen.
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Chapter 4: What family dynamics were involved during Jake's illness?
So there were a couple times that Ellen texted me asking me for heroin. And I always thought it was the weirdest thing because I never thought that she was into it. She hated so much that Jake did it. It was very well known that she did not approve of that. I remember one time she texted me. She was like, I'm sick. I really need something. Could you help me out?
I don't even know if I answered her, to be honest.
So here was Jake's wife, potentially struggling to overcome her own addiction with this unimaginable stress looming over her and the determination to save her doomed and dying husband. Oh, and she had also been living with Jake's dad, Derone, at this point because Derone had let them move in and was counting their rent payments as payments towards eventually buying the home from him.
Derone was also using. He had crippling back pain and it moved to Texas and a new doctor resulted in very little access to the pain medication he'd once been prescribed. One thing led to another and suddenly Derone was using heroin. But Derone told me that the day of Jake's diagnosis, he quit. Cold turkey. But I do think that this helps add some context as to what is happening at home.
Ellen is trying to care for Jake and tension was building between her and Derone, leading to what sounded like an attempted murder and the arrest of Jake's father, Derone. But Derone wasn't the only one who was pushed out. When Jake was in the hospital, there was a list of approved visitors.
For those not on the approved list, like Adrian and a few of Jake's family members, they were able to sneak in using different names and identities. But when Jake was moved to hospice, that was the end of that. Jake's Aunt Varda reads me a string of texts between her and Ellen. Varda had maintained contact when Jake had moved into hospice, but that didn't last long.
You'll see why when you hear the exchange over a few texts.
Jerome can do or say whatever he wants. I'm not afraid of him. He's so incredibly weak. I could take him. LOL. I can't live with Jerome. I don't know what we are going to do. I wish Jerome would just die. It's hard to make peace with someone you don't like. So she made it very clear that, yeah, Jerome was the enemy.
And as a reminder, Daron is Varda's brother. Varda shows me another text. It came in just a minute later. Ellen writes, you've been nothing but helpful throughout this process. And unlike many, you are one of the few that have stuck around the whole time. That's why I'm such a stickler about giving out information. I don't want information getting into the hands of people who don't deserve it.
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Chapter 5: How did Ellen manage Jake's care and family access?
Soon after this exchange, another relative of Jake's traveled in from out of town to help them, but she was sick with a cold. Varda received a text from Ellen, who was upset about this relative exposing Jake to germs. The exchange became heated very quickly.
Ellen typed, She shouldn't be traveling if she is sick. That is extremely selfish. Just go be a bitch to someone else. Your family is so fucked up. And that's when I totally lost it with her, and that's when my communications with her ended. I said, You are the biggest bitch I've ever encountered. You have no filter and no respect for anyone.
Today I finally let my filter go as you got my blood boiling. It's quite clear that you have a borderline personality disorder. Go get some help. Let's go back to not talking anymore. I'm done. And she wrote back, I'm only a bitch to people like you that are incompetent and delusional. Your family are the most fucked up people I've ever met. It's no wonder I'm a bitch to you people.
You should honestly expect it by now, you ignorant, arrogant bitch. And that was the last time I had any communication with her.
Well, you certainly left it on a high note.
Jake's uncle Adam chimes in.
We figured at some point he was going to die and that we'd find out about it ex post facto, weeks, months later, because there was just zero communication. It was a black hole.
It was so crazy because she didn't let anybody near him. Nobody knew what was going on. Ellen cut every single person out of his life. She was in control of everything. It was so weird to me because it's like someone who...
is in the situation that Jake's in like they're so sick they're on and off life supporting measures they're in and out of consciousness and like having family around is one of the best things you can do having familiar people talk to them and hold their hand it was so weird to me that she wouldn't want to have anything familiar for him that is a cruel thing to do to somebody
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Chapter 6: What legal battles emerged within Jake's family?
Chapter 7: What resources are available for accessibility needs?
is in the situation that Jake's in like they're so sick they're on and off life supporting measures they're in and out of consciousness and like having family around is one of the best things you can do having familiar people talk to them and hold their hand it was so weird to me that she wouldn't want to have anything familiar for him that is a cruel thing to do to somebody
And there are people that wanted to see him and wanted to know where he was. And she just, nope, nothing.
By this point, she had cut off everybody except me. Nobody could visit. Everybody on Jake's side of the family was cut off. And because she had health proxy, she could make all those decisions. I just refused to get into a fight with her. I knew there was, if I wanted to see Jake, I knew I had to stay on her good side. So I still had contact and I hadn't seen him for a while.
Even though she was texting me, she wasn't really letting me visit. So I just want to be very clear. I mean, if she hadn't cared for him with the intensity and determination and focus for all that time, he would have died. I mean, I just absolutely believe that. Because it's almost like I want to believe that she was calling him out, you know? Jake, don't die. So she became obsessed with his care.
And it saved his life, I'm convinced.
While Eli was trying to get approval to visit Jake, Derone was entering a legal battle with Ellen over their fight. I asked Derone what happened that day, and his story was just as Jake told it. The two get into a screaming match over Derone being late for his shift to care for Jake and give Ellen some much-needed reprieve.
I just lost it, and I started screaming and burbling, and I ran downstairs, and I ran upstairs, screamed at her some more. She screamed back at me. I ran back downstairs, and I took a deep breath and let out slowly, and I said, okay, for Jacob's sake, I'm going to make this go away. So I calmed down.
I was gonna go upstairs she meets me at the top of the steps and I saw I'm like two steps below and I went to put my hand on her shoulders and she yells out you're strangling me and then I was about to laugh and then hits me in the head with a soda bottle and I lose my balance and I do a backflip down the stairs. Anyway, I wound up like needing seven staples in my head. I broke my wrist.
I was concussed. I may have blacked out for a second, but... And then I had all this blood in my eyes and I called 911. The ambulance stopped a block up from my house. And I'm yelling at them, hey, I'm over here. They go, we know. I see you, come get me. And they go, no. We have to wait for the police.
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