TOLEDO, Ohio — Across the globe, International Overdose Awareness Day on Aug. 31 commemorates those who have been lost to drug abuse.
Toledo is no exception, with Promenade Park serving as the site for the fourth annual Chalk the Walk, hosted by the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, the event offered people a chance to draw the names of friends and family who had lost their lives to drugs in a communal mourning effort.
According to Zepf Center representative Ashley Kopaniasz, Ohio has the second highest level of overdoses in the country, and Toledo in particular is a hotspot in the state.
While booths offer free Narcan and other opportunities to help those struggling, many people Chalk the Walk to remember the people they have lost to addiction.
The sidewalk at the event reads, "We lost 276 loved ones to overdoses in 2021."
That's just in Toledo.
Below that sentence are a few of the names representing that number.
Yvonne Cooper drove from Flint, Michigan to add her son's name.
"He did a line of cocaine with some friends and died ... no one called 9-1-1 because they were scared," she said.
Kopaniasz said Toledo is a hotspot for overdoses because it is a crossing zone for multiple interstate drug trafficking rings, which have been rising since the COVID-19 pandemic.
"(Chalk the Walk) gives the ability for people to come support each other, recognizing that we've all lost someone," she said. "At this point I don't know anyone who's not impacted."
There are groups actively working to stop the number of deadly overdoses, such as ProMedica's Emergency Department Naloxone Distribution program.
The narcotic overdose treatment was handed out at the event and Jim Hubbard, one of the workers, said if more people started carrying the life-saving drug, it could make all the difference.
"Even if I was to drop in front of you, and you didn't have this, it would take first responders five to ten minutes to get to you," he said. "Ambulance, fire department ... but your brain starts dying in four to six minutes. Narcan is something that can get that bridge so we can get somebody some help."
Cooper said her son wasn't a frequent user. He was a steelworker who made a mistake that cost him his life.
"One bad decision," she said. "You know you don't do this and think 'oh, I'm gonna die."
ProMedica says Narcan kits will soon be installed inside local high schools as well.