Delivering a message in Eddystone
There is no arguing with the numbers.
Not the ones released recently that show Delaware County as No. 1 in the state when it comes to saves with the overdose-reversing drug Naloxone. Across Pennsylvania, since passage of what is referred to as David’s Law in 2014, there have been approximately 3,000 overdome victims brought back from death’s door with the miracle drug. A whopping 18 percent have taken place here in Delco.
It’s a tribute to the county’s awareness of the seriousness of the issue, something that spurred District Attorney Jack Whelan several years ago to set up a Heroin Task Force, the first in the region to focus solely on this new scourge. Whelan pushed hard to make Delaware County the first to put Narcan, the generic form of Naloxone, in the hands of every police officer and emergency responder. That has resulted in 545 successful overdose saves, lives literally brought back to life from a heroin-opioid overdose death. They are astounding numbers. But they’re not the numbers we focused on this weekend.
Instead we’re thinking about 7,000. That’s how many people turned out for the annual Overdose Awareness Day and Memorial Walk in Eddystone.
You want to know just how serious the heroin-opioid epidemic is in this county? Look at that turnout. A small city showed up in the tiny borough of Eddystone – all with one thing in mind.
Bringing awareness to the problem – and mourning those already lost, while showing resolve that other families should not feel the pain so many have endured in losing a loved one to this dreaded killer.
That’s why the family of Doug Paul, of Springfield, was pounding the pavement in Eddystone Saturday. He would have celebrated his 29th birthday this weekend. Instead, his family was paying tribute to him with balloons and sign, and warning others.
Doug Paul’s mother, Ginny, actually went one step further. Last week she penned an emotional guest column that appeared on these pages, warning of the dangers of heroin abuse, how easily it is to go from legitimate prescription painkillers to illegal substances. And more importantly, how deadly that mistake can be.
It took courage and guts for Ginny Paul to bare her family’s plight publicly. But if it saves even one life, or spares just one family from the anguish that the Paula family has endured, it will have been well worth it.
The Paul family was not exactly alone in Eddystone Saturday.
The turnout – perhaps the best indication of just how bad this problem is – doubled last year’s throng. Thousands walked through the streets of the borough to focus attention on the issue. Seemingly every one of them had a story to tell.
Some offered words of encouragement, that addiction can be conquered; others were there to memorialize friends and loved ones who could not escape addiction’s tentacles.
Among those opening up about their struggles was Suzanne LeVeque, of the Folsom section of Ridley Township. She described how she started using heroin as a senior in high school, and how she quickly descended into a fullblown addict. She’s now clean and continuing to recover. She was there to tell others they can escape the plague as well.
“I have lost a lot of people,” LeVeque said. “I have nine years in recovery. I think there is a stigma. A lot of people don’t talk about it because they are judged.”
That is one of the most important things that Saturday’s massive walk demonstrated. A lot of people are dealing with this problem. It is no longer something hidden away amidst deep, dark family secrets, relegated to the mysteries of the obit pages.
It is too widespread. It’s taking too heavy a toll. The time for secrets is over.
Not everyone was as lucky as those 545 people brought back to life with Naloxone. County statistics indicate we lost 206 people to heroin-opioid overdose deaths in 2015. That’s up from 147 in 2014. The 2016 numbers have not yet been released. In that same span, across the state, overdose deaths rose from 2,500 to 3,500, according to figures from the Pennsylvania State Coroners Association. So far this year, as of mid-April the state has recorded another 55 overdose deaths.
The friends of Chris Kelly, from Ridley, were looking to honor his memory Saturday – but also to deliver a message.
“This isn’t a joke,” said Tracy Denk. It’s a disease and it’s killing people. It takes over the person.”
Saturday it took over Eddystone, 7,000 strong.
Message delivered.