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This story was originally published by 14News on Sug. 21, 2024. Click here to view.
OWENSBORO, Ky. (WFIE) – RiverValley is hosting its 2nd Annual International Overdose Awareness Day event.
The event hosted at Moreland Park fell on Tuesday, which is National Fentanyl Prevention and Awareness Day.
Officials say there are more than 20 vendors and free resources on the topic. Several of the community resources in attendance are also giving away free Narcan.
Organizers say there’s also CPR training and recognition for the community’s first responders, along with free pizza and family friendly activities such as moon bounces, petting zoos and balloon artists.
“This is an issue that affects families and for that in order to get the message out, we need to capture the attention of adolescents, of children,” said RiverValley Behavioral health President and CEO, Dr. Wanda Figueroa-Peralta. “This is not a problem that will be solved by one person, one treatment provider, one elected official.”
Dr. Figueroa-Peralta says it’s outreach efforts like these that led to almost a 10 percent decrease in drug overdoses last year in Kentucky.
“That’s incredible,” added RiverValley behavioral Health Vice President of Nursing and Prescriber Services Nicki Feher. “But there was an increase in ages 0-4 and ages 55-74.”
While there might be more work that needs to be done, that decrease means more than 200 lives saved from drug overdose. That was a large part of the celebration at Moreland Park on Wednesday.
“We wanted to make sure that we’re also celebrating people in recovery, that we’re celebrating the families who still have hope for those family members that are afflicted,” said Figueroa-Peralta.
Some of those families wrote names of loved ones lost on a wall of remembrance for all to see.
Kira Carle wrote two names on that wall.
“Those are for my brothers that passed away two and three years ago from drug use,” she shared.
Carle says it took losing those two family members to have the courage to save herself.
“I’ve been sober almost a year this week,” said Carle.
Published on August 22, 2024