WESTFIELD NEWS— Every 11 minutes, a person dies of an opioid overdose. At the International Overdose Awareness Day vigil, which took place Thursday at Park Square, Tapestry Health brought awareness to this by releasing a white dove balloon every 11 minutes. At their table, attendees were invited to write a loved one’s name on them.
“When you actually see something that signifies loss, death, it just sits differently in the brain and in the heart as well,” said Tapestry harm reduction counselor Jessica Theriaque.
In Westfield, there have been 26 overdoses so far this year, said Kimberly Slade, the city’s substance abuse outreach coordinator. At last year’s vigil, speakers said there had been 24 to date.
Nonetheless, state Sen. John Velis (D-Westfield), chair of the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use, and Recovery, said that overdoses statewide are decreasing.
Westfield Police Capt. Eric Hall said that the problem isn’t getting better, but the availability of Narcan and other resources is preventing deaths. He said without things like the vigil, it won’t get better at all.
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Velis told the attendees that there were five people in his phone contacts that have died since last year’s vigil. When he went to one of their funerals, he read a note from a two-year old child that said, “Daddy, sorry I’m not going to be able to grow up with you.”
“I am sick and tired and sad, sad with the number of fellow human beings we continue to lose on a daily basis,” Velis said.
He spoke in particular about the stigma that substance users face.
“The three hardest words, by far, for any human being to say are also the most courageous words for any human being to say, ‘I need help,’” he said. “When a fellow human being says I need help, we need to be there, they need to be able to say that and maintain their dignity.”
Mark Jachym, who is in recovery, said that drug use has existed since the beginning of time. If more people spoke up about it, there’d be less stigma, and users would better be able to access help.
In particular, he said people should be given the option to use drugs safely, comparing it to using seat belts to drive safely and using sunscreen to enjoy the outdoors safely.
“I would rather have them here with me and using safely, rather than not have them here at all,” he said.
Several other speakers described their or a loved one’s experience with substance abuse, sometimes in tears. At the end of the vigil, Slade and Westfield Director of Public Health Debra Mulvenna lit five memorial candles and invited attendees to light handheld candles of their own. Attendees observed a moment of silence, before blowing the candles out.