Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Attack Addiction strives to prevent future overdose deaths in First State

Megan Pauly
/
Delaware Public Media
Cecelia Lim, center, was a friend of Tyler Keister (pictured in the poster) who died of a drug overdose in Dec. 2012.

During a Blue Rocks game earlier this week, Gov. Jack Markell recognized outreach and education group Attack Addiction for its efforts to prevent overdose deaths.

"PCP: angel dust, mad man..."

 

That’s Cecelia Lim, summer intern with Attack Addiction. She manned an outreach table at the Blue Rocks game and pointed out a substance abuse identification kit with common slang terms for substances.

 

She was a friend of Tyler Keister, who lost his life because of a drug overdose in December 2012.

 

Lim said she had no idea of Keister’s struggles with addiction.

 

“One of the stigmas around drug use is that people who take drugs or use drugs are bad or lazy or misguided when in reality it’s a mental illness. It actually affects your brain chemistry," Lim said.

 

In 2013, Tyler’s parents founded Attack Addiction to help decrease the stigma surrounding the disease of drug addiction.

 

Lim says the organization has a multitude of programs, and runs solely by volunteers.

 

“We support a transitional recovery home for women who are currently in recovery, we also have some educational programs in Kent County, going into schools to teach kids about drug use," Lim said.

 

The transitional home is temporary and free, for women coming out of treatment and trying to get their lives back on track.

There’s also a recovery home for women, but it isn’t free. Each home can accommodate between five and ten women at a time.

 

Another program Attack Addiction runs is a drug awareness and prevention program called the Reality Tour.

 

It’s a recreation of a realistic overdose situation and is designed for an audience of those ages 10-18.

 

During the Reality Tour, paramedics actually come in and try to revive the teenager. There’s also a police officer to add to the reality of the situation.

 

“To try to show them what it’s like to be a teenager who’s peer pressured into taking drugs and then goes to a party and has an overdose and passes away," Lim said.

In Delaware, the number of fentanyl-related deaths soared by 180 percent from 15 deaths in 2012 to 42 deaths in 2015.