A Powell River mom wants to paint the town purple for overdose awareness.
Darlana Treloar is inviting local businesses and residents to use purple flood lights or light bulbs. to shed a light on B.C.’s overdose crisis during the last weekend in August.
The crisis hits home for Treloar.
Her son, Sean, died four years ago from a fentanyl overdose. He was just 27.
Of the people who lost their lives to a drug overdose in 2019, 89 per cent of them were between the ages of 19 and 59.
International Overdose Awareness Day is recognized globally on Aug. 31st, and aims to raise awareness of overdose and reduce the stigma of a drug-related death.
There is also a virtual event taking place that day featuring words of remembrance and live music by Jill Cooper and Meridian plus guest speakers Dr. Bonnie Henry and Leslie McBain (Moms Stop The Harm). Click here for more information.
If you’ve lost someone to an overdose and would like to represent them in Powell River, you can message Treloar on Facebook or email her at [email protected].
She’s organizing an awareness project and says she’d “be honored to share a picture of your loved one.”
According to BC Emergency Health Services, paramedics responded to 2,706 overdose calls in July, which is an average of 87 a day across B.C.
This was the highest number of monthly OD’s recorded since the overdose crisis was declared in 2016.
Powell River had its average number of six overdose calls last month.
