Uncategorized
By BrightView
Published: March 12, 2019
Updated: March 12, 2019

BrightView have been coming to the Hamilton County Justice Center to give out the life-saving drug naloxone for the past year. They give it to people just being released, someone visiting an inmate or a person who came in just to get Narcan. Amy Parker, a Peer Recovery Supporter with BrightView shows them how to use it. Parker wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for Narcan. “My body was pushed out of a vehicle and left for dead,” Parker said. Luckily, someone called 911 and first responders saved Parker with Narcan. Parker said she was addicted to opioids and heroin for 15 years. It started when she was 14 and had several knee surgeries. She said she was given a year-long pain pill prescription. “It can happen to anyone. It can happen just by having a shoulder surgery, at any age, in any circumstance, in any social class, it doesn’t matter who you are, addiction shows no prejudice,” Parker said. The group doesn’t push anyone to take the Narcan and sometimes people aren’t very friendly toward the group. “That’s when I open up and say, ‘I’ve been revived by Narcan. I’m alive because of it.’ And it usually stops people in their tracks,” Parker said. Parker hopes hearing her story will convince someone to carry it just in case. She thinks folks who know people addicted to opioids aren’t the only ones who should have the life-saving drug. “You never know when you’re pulling into a gas station and someone’s in their car and they’ve overdosed. You can revive them and you can save their life and you can give them that opportunity to find successful recovery and they can go back to their family,” Parker said. Parker is proud to say she has been sober for seven years.

by Christian Hauser, WKRC 

Link to video here