Families hold shoes belonging to loved ones in walk to raise overdose awareness

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Families clasp shoes belonging to loved ones successful locomotion to rise overdose awareness

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It was a showing of enactment and knowing Tuesday evening during a locomotion successful Jacksonville connected International Overdose Awareness Day.

Holding backmost tears, a parent grieved implicit the decease of her girl and unborn granddaughter. She and others carried with them the shoes that belonged to their loved ones.

“They are loved. And they volition ever beryllium loved,” she said.

It was a powerful, affectional locomotion for the radical of people, wounded by the nonaccomplishment of lives to cause addiction.

Their loved ones shoes lined the route.

“We’ve got immoderate candles to airy and immoderate hugs to give,” said Cami Caldwell, who mislaid her girl to an overdose. “There’s truthful overmuch stigma and shame associated with overdose and addiction and we privation everyone to cognize they were loved.”

Mike Itani mislaid his lad to a fentanyl overdose.

“It’s excruciating. The lone mode to truly picture it is, it’s similar you aftermath up each time feeling similar you conscionable heard the quality that day, similar it conscionable happened that day,” helium said.

The families were determination to dispersed awareness, to effort and region the stigma associated with overdoses.

“Hopefully we tin get immoderate justness for these young kids -- young kids who didn’t cognize what they were taking oregon were deceived,” said Alex McCondichid, who mislaid her kid to a fentanyl overdose.

The event, “Walk a Mile successful Their Shoes,” was co-sponsored by 2 section nonprofits founded by mothers who mislaid their big children to overdoses.