‘Light the Way for Hope’ event honors lives lost to drug overdose

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD) – Mount Pleasant’s Memorial Waterfront Park was decorated in purple Wednesday to spread awareness for International Overdose Awareness Day.

Family, friends, and advocates honored hundreds of lives at the “Light the Way for Hope” event.

“If my sister still had Narcan by her side, she would still be alive today,” says Jason Bordeaux, who lost his sister to an overdose.

WakeUp Carolina, The Charleston Center, and the Mount Pleasant Police Department partnered together to spread awareness about the opioid epidemic with Narcan training and a ceremony.

“Our goal is to have as many tools out there as possible to give someone the opportunity for breath and recovery because recovery is real,” Nanci Steadman Shipman, the founder of WakeUp Carolina.

Shipman says South Carolina is above average in overdose deaths. She says last year more than 300 people died from an overdose in Charleston County alone.

“We are seeing the worst numbers we have ever seen. 2020 were the worst numbers nationally, statewide, and tri-county wide,” says Shipman.

Family and friends who are remembering their loved ones say having community support is the first step to helping save more lives.

“Having this community is amazing. I have never experienced or been with a community that is pushing forward in life,” says Bordeaux

Leaders say the second Wednesday of every month there is a free Narcan training at Mount Pleasant Town Hall. Anyone is welcome to attend.