'Everybody is somebody's someone': Ames crowd marks International Overdose Awareness Day with message of hope

Ames Tribune - 8/28/2021

After his sister Tashara Burnside died from an opioid overdose in 2016, Devon Terrones said he found his strength within their mother.

"She has my unrelenting support. We've been each other's rock since day one," he told a crowd of nearly 50 people at Ada Hayden Park in Ames on Saturday.

Natasha Terrones organized the event to commemorate International Overdose Awareness Day, which is observed globally on Aug. 31. Her advocacy is motivated by how much she loves both her children and "being so honored they call me mom," she previously told the Ames Tribune.

Related: Ames mother to hold overdose awareness day event in honor of late daughter

Attendees on Saturday learned how to administer naloxone and heard from mothers whose children died from drug overdoses.

The overwhelming messages: There's help available. And there's nothing to be ashamed of.

When Denise Ryder's 19-year-old son Dalton died of an overdose in 2016, she said she felt embarrassed at first. She wanted people to remember his talent for wrestling and love of driving sprint cars. She was afraid he would be judged.

"I talk about it all the time now, because we do need to end the stigma," Ryder said. "They are still human, and they still have someone who loves them."

Drug overdoses killed 93,000 people in the United States last year, a record-high number that was 30% more than the death toll in 2019, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Iowa, opioid-related deaths increased by 35% from 2019 to 2020, when 212 deaths involved opioids, state data shows.

Preliminary research shows a correlation between overdose deaths and pandemic isolation.

More: Iowa drug overdose deaths jumped 20% last year, amid pandemic's stress and the spread of fentanyl

Ann Breeding supported her son Daniel Bailey through 12 years of addiction before the 29-year-old died of an overdose in November. Bailey had an "adventurous, free spirit" and "the biggest heart," according to his obituary. Breeding told the crowd Saturday to remember "everybody is somebody's someone."

"When you're kind to somebody, regardless of who they are, what they look like, what they've been through ... it has an effect on the mom that sits at home crying. Because someone cares about that child," Breeding said.

Advocates with Community and Family Resources, where Terrones is a board member, also distributed free vouchers for naloxone at the event. The medicine rapidly reverses an opioid overdose.

When Burnside overdosed on the synthetic opioid U4 nearly five years ago, Ames police officers on the scene did not carry naloxone. Shortly after Burnside's death, that changed.

"I don't know if the outcome would have been different if we were carrying it that day or not, but it certainly convinced us that it was the right time to do that," Ames Police Chief Geoff Huff said. "Now, all our officers carry Narcan (a brand name for naloxone) in their vehicles ... that's one positive thing that's come out of this tragedy."

From 2017: U4 killed her daughter; now Iowa mom wants supplier punished

Sally Carnes, operations director at Community and Family Resources, emphasized that treatment for substance use is available and overdoses are preventable.

"The biggest thing I think we can all do is help to break down the stigma. ... That stigma eventually stops people from getting treatment," Carnes said. "We should not be referring to people as addicts or substance abusers. They are people with substance use disorders, just as someone is a person with diabetes."

Natasha Terrones said it can still be difficult to get out of bed knowing that Tashara, the girl with the love for music who sang so beautifully, is not here. But she has a newfound family she says she "does it all" for.

"I do it for the Daniels. I do it for the Frankies. I do it for the Richards, the Daltons, everybody," Terrones said. "My feet are planted ... I'm not going anywhere."

Isabella Rosario is a public safety reporter for the Ames Tribune. She can be reached by email at irosario@gannett.com or on Twitter at @irosarioc.