Yellowknife (Apr 05/06) - For decades, Fox Morin lived his life without knowing Hepatitis C was slowly causing his liver to fail.

But his life of drug abuse and alcoholism finally caught up with him in 1999 when he underwent a liver transplant in Alberta.

While he once was hanging onto life by a thread, Morin now inspires others at risk across Canada.

"I was given an extension on life, so when I got out of the hospital, I started speaking on Hep C."

The former Hay River resident has been touring Canada ever since, speaking to others by way of an educational and awareness campaign about Hepatitis C and the risks associated with drug use.

"I use myself as an example," Morin said of his presentation.

Morin was visiting the North Slave Correctional Centre in Yellowknife last week as part of his Northern tour, which includes a stop in Hay River at the treatment centre.

During his talks, Morin said he discusses the high rate of the infection within the prison system due to unsafe tattooing and injection drug use.

He also said that 40 per cent of new cases of Hepatitis C are contracted through snorting cocaine.

"This is more a preventative measure than anything else," he said of the information he provides.

"I want to make people aware that if they've been involved in any of these high-risk behaviours in the past or now while in jail, we recommend they get tested for Hep C," Morin said.

And while Morin said anyone can go into a prison environment and give the same information, because he is "one of them," inmates are better able to relate with him on the topics he discusses.

"And I actually show a video of my liver after it was extracted," he chuckled. "That leaves one heck of an impact."

As a result of his talks, Morin said many people decide to get tested for the incurable disease.

Morin said he was probably one of the first aboriginal people to go into various communities to discuss Hepatitis C.

Jan Inman, manager of health care services at the North Slave Corrections Centre (NSCC), said between 25-30 inmates attended Morin's presentation, which lasted about one hour.

"There was about a dozen who stayed after to talk more with him for about 45 minutes," Inman said.

The response to the session was very positive, she noted.

"There was good interaction between the inmates and Fox and it was at a level that was understood by everyone.

"It was the kind of interaction that indicates they were interested and learning."

Since the presentation, Inman said there have been more questions about Hepatitis C and plans are underway to host health promotion activities within the correctional centre.

There is not a high rate of Hepatitis C infection at the correctional centre, she said.

"We offer testing to every inmate on intake," Inman said.

Overall in the North, there were 15 new cases of Hepatitis C reported between January and September, 2005.

In 2004, 34 new cases of the transmittable disease were reported.