Banners displayed in Shallotte feature people lost to overdoses

SHALLOTTE, NC (WWAY) — Monday marked International Overdose Awareness Day and some people in Brunswick County wanted to make sure those lost to addiction are not forgotten.

The event at the Shallotte Crossing Shopping Center was hosted by B.A.C.K. O.F.F. of Brunswick County, and the Drug Epidemic Awareness Walk Across America (DEAWAA) group of North Carolina.

16 banners printed with the words ‘Can you see me now’ each featured the faces of 150 people lost to drug addiction and overdose for a total of 2,400 people.

“These are the faces of our children that have passed away from overdose,” said attendee Denise West. “And the nation needs to know that there is an epidemic, not just a pandemic.”

West’s son graham died of an overdose last year. She says she tried to revive him, but was unsuccessful.

“I had narcan, two kinds of narcan, I ran and got it” West said. “I didn’t have the education though, so there needs to be educations for families and loved ones.”

Lisa Smith, leader of the DEAWAA group of North Carolina, lost her son a few days before Christmas in 2016.

“We need to change the way we think about addiction,” Smith said. “I also was one of them people who thought it would never happen to my son ever in a million years and it did. I was blindsided.”

Smith says stats show approximately 72,000 overdose deaths in the nation each year. She says there are about six deaths each day in North Carolina alone.

“This particular group that I represent is to bring change, end stigma, hope for better education, more mental health care,” she said.

Also displayed at the event was a proclamation from Governor Roy Cooper declaring August 31 Overdose Awareness Day in North Carolina, something Smith has been fighting for.

“It was a process of getting that. I’m very proud of him for stepping up and making it out there that he acknowledges that North Carolina has an issue,” she said. “We also have money from government grants and I’m hoping he applies it into better structure for longer care.”

Also present at the event was Alex Murill, who owns a wireless phone store in the Shallotte Crossing Shopping Center and advocates for addiction awareness among the Hispanic community.

“A lot of Hispanics have died because of this, a lot of young people,” Murill said. “One problem we have in the Hispanic community, the family, the parents, they’re not knowledgeable, they live in denial.”

Murill lost his best friend to an overdose. He donates to the awareness groups and encourages Hispanic families to learn about the signs of addiction and the use of naloxone or Narcan.

“We try to promote people how to us Narcan, because you can save lives with Narcan,” he said. “That’s one thing the Hispanic community that they don’t know nothing about the Narcan.”

Click here for more information about the DEAWAA group.

Click here for more information about the B.A.C.K. O.F.F. group.