Your turn: Grandson's fatal fentanyl overdose inspires mission to raise awareness
A couple weeks ago, Rockford celebrated Labor Day for the first time in three years.
This was an especially exciting time for me as I was voted Rockford United Labor’s 2022 Labor Day Queen.
While it was certainly fun to ride in an open vehicle wearing a beautiful dress and carrying a bouquet of flowers, when I received my trophy, I also believe that I received the opportunity to lift up an issue important to my family and the community at large — the deadly threat of illicit fentanyl.
Pharmaceutical fentanyl is a synthetic opioid, approved for treating severe pain, typically advanced cancer pain. It is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. It is prescribed in the form of transdermal patches or lozenges and can be diverted for misuse and abuse in the United States.
According to the CDC, more than 56,000 people died from overdoses involving synthetic opioids in 2020.
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The latest provisional drug overdose death counts through June 2021 suggest an acceleration of overdose deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tragically, my 18-year-old grandson Collin was one of the lives taken suddenly from this insidious killer.
My grandson was a star athlete; a friendly charming young man who loved to fish, loved his family, and loved to skateboard. When the pandemic began, his life changed drastically.
His parents were supportive. They built a skate ramp for the backyard, assisted with remote-learning and did what we all tried to do to support our children as they struggled with a new normal that lacked the social networks teenagers so rely on.
Despite all of this, Collin, who was never known to use drugs, was offered a pill from one of his friends. It would help with some of the recurrent pain he experienced from various sports injuries. The friend had tried one. It was great, he said. By 3 a.m. the next morning, the light of so many of our lives was extinguished.
There are so many things I could do with this honor of being Labor Day Queen. I could rest and wait until next year to dust off my crown and award the next winner. I could make the rounds to various parades and venues. I could cut ribbons at openings, and while I plan to do that and more, the most important thing for me is lifting-up this cause and educating my fellow union members and anyone who will listen about the dangers of illicit fentanyl.
We need to expand distribution and use of naloxone and overdose prevention education. We need to talk to our children about how just one pill can destroy so many lives. I thank my union brothers and sisters for this platform.
I vow that every time I am given a voice, I will use it as an opportunity to talk about this issue.
Tina Nalan is the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 245 Steward and the Rockford United Labor, AFL-CIO 2022 Labor Day Queen.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Grandson's fatal fentanyl overdose inspires mission to raise awareness
