News Article

Share:

Global Content Zone 1

Families share stories of loss at suicide, opioid crisis prevention event

Times
Aug 23, 2021

Aug. 22—MERRILLVILLE — Through tears, a Winfield mother recounted the hardest day of her life when she lost her son to an overdose just months ago.

"On April 10 of this year, the absolute worst day of all of our lives, I have my family up here, because we always do things together and we went through this together," Dina Marie Irizarry said. "If you know anyone who struggles with addiction, I ask that you have empathy. I ask that you have compassion. Support them but please please please always love them and say that you love them. I can say and rest my head at night I told my son everyday I loved him. Every time I talked to him, I told him I loved him."

Irizarry looked at the framed photo being held on stage showing her son, Joey.

"I still do," she said. "This is the picture I say goodnight to every day."

Irizarry and her family's story of heartbreak and loss was among the many shared at the second annual Child Suicide & Opioid Crisis Prevention Event on Saturday at the Indian American Cultural Association. Like many of the accounts of people struggling with addiction, Irizarry said Joey's battle had many factors, including trauma from his past and struggles with mental health.

There were also stories of hope. Felishia Lewis publicly spoke about her fight with opioid addiction for the first time, celebrating two years of sobriety on Aug. 11.

She said she began getting addicted to doctor-prescribed opioids and eventually she turned to buying them off the street. She then found herself in Porter County Jail facing a possible 16-year sentence for dealing drugs.

"I completed drug court, which was a two year program and the judge was very shocked," Lewis said. "He said, 'You beat the odds, congratulations. ... I didn't do this alone though. I had to reach out because I thought if I asked for help it meant I am weak. But I had to reach out because I couldn't do it alone. All along I had my family there, but I pushed them away for so many years, but now, its literally overwhelming about how supportive they are."

Indian Medical Association of Northwest Indiana President, Dr. Sudhish Chandra, said that depression and anxiety have skyrocketed through the pandemic and opioid deaths are up 30% from last year. Chandra said a large focus of the event was educating kids and getting them involved in efforts to fight addiction and deal with mental health struggles in a healthy way.

"In Indiana alone we lost more than 1,000 people to suicide last year," Chandra said. "Now there are sixth and seventh graders committing suicide, and its a tragedy. ... That's why you see all of the youth involved here today. I think prevention is the best method in fighting this."

The family event included mental health experts, physical therapy presentations, health professionals, law enforcement, food, games and music. A candlelight vigil was held to remember those who died from suicide and addiction and a discussion panel featured local officials, advocates and health professionals.

It was a coordinated effort by the Indian American Medical Association and A.S.H.A., which means hope in the Hindi language and is an acronym for awareness, support, health and action, and it was sponsored by several businesses, organizations and agencies.

The Lake County Sheriff's Department, which supplied SWAT vehicles and a helicopter for the event, has been the main sponsor of the event since its inception.

Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. said the partnership between law enforcement and community organizations is needed as the opioid and mental health crisis continues to rise. He said his department has worked to create more resources, programs and staff to address addiction and mental health issues.

"As we see across the country, people dealing with mental illness is a serious problem," Martinez said. "I remember becoming a police officer in the early 90s and mental issues were never trained and we were never educated on it. Anyone calls on a problem out on the street, and the way we would solve it is to put them in jail and that was a big problem. Nowadays with the increase in mental illness and education programs, officers are able to identify those with mental illness. I hired two qualified mental professionals in our police department that helps those suffering from mental illness, addiction suicidal thoughts and also help our officers."

___

(c)2021 The Times (Munster, Ind.)

Visit The Times (Munster, Ind.) at www.nwitimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Global Content Zone 2