By Krystal Smalley
ksmalley@wbcowqel.com
The words and pain of the testimonials were raw, but the support was unquestionable.
The plaza of Bucyrus City Hall was filled Wednesday evening with recovering addicts, family members of addicts, and support groups and organizations for the Fed Up! Rally and International Overdose Awareness Day. Groups came wearing T-shirts honoring loved ones and carrying photos of those affected by the disease of addiction. Tables were filled with educational and informational pamphlets from groups such as Together We Hurt Together We Heal, Maryhaven of Bucyrus, Marion/Crawford ADAMH Board, and Racing for Recovery of Toledo.
Fran Zimmerman came with her family members, each one wearing a light blue T-shirt with the words, “If our love could have saved you, you would have lived forever,” written on the back. The shirts were in memory of Zimmerman’s son, who died six months ago from his drug addiction.
“It was about a loved one we tried to save,” Zimmerman said, taking a deep breath before admitting some painful words, “but we couldn’t.”
Zimmerman was emotional as she attempted to talk about her son, trying to force the words out but failing. Her family, doubling as her support system, surrounded her as she talked about the rally rather than focusing on the pain of losing her son.
“Everything,” Zimmerman said about what the rally meant to her. “If we can save any more kids, bring awareness to the people who haven’t had to deal with it, who look down on these kids that are getting lost to this drug. Everything.”
Zimmerman was hardly the only one to battle back tears and emotions during the rally as others could be seen wiping their eyes during testimonials or shouting in support.
Caleb Rettig gave an impromptu speech as he talked about getting involved with marijuana, almost losing a friend to an overdose, and having someone help him put his focus on music only to later have that person die from a drug overdose himself.
“It kind of scares me to think what would have happened if I wouldn’t have had a wakeup call and stepped away from that path,” Rettig said.
Rettig had to stop himself during his story as he became overwhelmed.
“I don’t know what I would have done if he had not made it,” Rettig said about his friend who survived an overdose. “He has helped me through a lot of things and it made me feel a little bit helpless because I didn’t know what I could do for him.”
Rettig also gave a lot of credit to Westen Ferris, who gave him his first guitar lesson but later died of an overdose.
Cindy Koumoutzis, Ohio State Director of Ohio CAN, spoke about being a mother of an addict and the stigma that often follows an addict around. That stigma, Koumoutzis said, never allowed her daughter and others like her to be heard, but a force of family members could make the voice of a drug addict be heard.
“For every person that has an addiction, there is between five and seven of us and our voice is much louder than our children’s,” Koumoutzis said.
When she asked how many people in attendance were family members of someone addicted to heroin, a majority of the people raised their hands.
“How does it feel to be able to come to a place and say ‘heroin’ out loud and not feel ashamed,” she asked to a round of applause and cheers. “I’m a parent – I’m pissed off. I want recovery for these kids because I see too many of them die every day.”
Koumoutzis noted that there were 14 Ohio CAN events going on in the state for International Overdose Awareness Day and the organization has a presence in 30 counties.
Paula Brown, lead counselor for Maryhaven of Bucyrus, served as a representative for her organization. Maryhaven is a provider of behavioral healthcare for adults and adolescents and is working with Crawford County Common Pleas Court Judge Sean Leuthold as part of the Intensive Supervision and Treatment program.
“I think it’s great to have these rallies and I think we need more of them to get the education out to the public about the problem with the opiate epidemic,” Brown said, “and also to get the education out that there is help possible and hope possible. There’s various partner agencies throughout the community that are here for you.”
More information on Ohio CAN can be found at www.changeaddictionnow.org. For more information on Maryhaven, contact 419-562-1740.