TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — For International Overdose Awareness Day, one local group of mothers is raising awareness to try and prevent other families from the same pain they have dealt with.
The group of moms handed out NARCAN along East M.L.K Jr. Boulevard. NARCAN is a brand of medication called Naloxone, which is used to reverse opioid overdoses.
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They passed each box out in hopes of saving a life.
“I feel like I’m giving back and giving them a heads up and knowledge, something I didn’t have before, something that I didn’t know about,” said Tammy Plakstis, who lost her son in 2020.
These mothers all lost their children, and other loved ones, to fentanyl.
“I lost my bonus daughter, Janelle, back in January of ’23, and my brother, Frederick, in October of ’23,” said Rosalyn Ricketts.
“I sometimes go in the bathroom, I’ll walk out, and people won’t even know that I was crying, but that’s the way grief goes. I just want to help others,” Plakstis said.