‘We will continue to fight the fight.’ Centre County residents remember those lost to overdoses
Despite the threat of rain, people marked International Overdose Awareness Day Tuesday evening in front of the Centre County Courthouse, remembering loved ones and fellow county residents who have been lost to a drug overdose.
The county saw nine overdose deaths in 2019, 18 in 2020 and has had eight confirmed so far this year, Centre County Coroner Scott Sayers told the Centre Daily Times.
The remembrance ceremony gave people a safe space to talk about and remember those who have died from an overdose. Candles were lit and held, while Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna, county commissioner Steve Dershem and Centre Helps Executive Director Denise McCann shared words of encouragement, hope and their own personal stories.
Dershem said that there are very few people in the community who have not been touched directly by addiction.
“I’ve lost, personally, enough friends to know that I can’t envision how families can gather themselves up. But I’m hoping that moments like this, and the HOPE Initiative hopes that moments like this, are a comfort to let you know that there are people out there that strongly feel that we are with you. We will continue to fight the fight,” Dershem said.
McCann said people were there for two reasons: to remember those they lost to substance abuse disorders and to celebrate those who are in recovery.
“Like many of you, I have loved ones that fall into both of those categories. I lost a niece who was only 20 years old, and a cousin who was 45, both to heroin overdose. But I have a son who is in recovery. It seems impossibly unlikely to have an event that marks such two opposite ends of the spectrum. How is it fair that my brother lost his child and I still have mine?” she said.
She said that she’s one of the “lucky ones” to not have lost a child.
“I know that my son is in recovery, not because of anything I did or didn’t do, but because of the grace of God, or the grace of the universe, with grace of whatever force you believe in. There were many moments when my son was in active addiction and it could have gone the other way.
“Throughout the six years he was using drugs, the one word that became my mantra was ‘believe.’ I just had to believe that he would get through. That wasn’t easy to do after five times in treatment and after phone calls from the back of an ambulance, where he had just been revived by Narcan,” McCann said.
But recovery is possible and it does happen, she said, and those in recovery — especially from opioid addiction — never stop needing support, because staying in recovery isn’t easy.
“I have so much admiration and awe for people who are in recovery. People in recovery are strong and they are resilient. And today, we celebrate every one of them,” McCann said.
There’s work to do locally, McCann said, to make sure more people achieve recovery, including mitigating risk by making sure Narcan is readily available, reduce the stigma so more people are willing to get help, understand what different types of treatment are available and what might work for someone and be more accepting of medically-assisted treatments that can help maintain recovery.
September is National Recovery Month; the Centre County Commissioners signed a proclamation for that, as well as Overdose Awareness Day, in Centre County. The courthouse will be lit up with purple lights for the month for Recovery Month.
This story was originally published September 1, 2021 at 5:03 PM.
