Mother spreading awareness after losing daughter to fentanyl overdose
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A Pine Township mother is speaking up for the first time since her daughter died of a fentanyl overdose a year ago.
Through the pain and sadness, Janet Morrison-Heberling is finding the strength to share her daughter's story in hopes of saving lives and helping other grieving parents.
"My daughter was a beautiful, kind, loving soul that got caught up in this epidemic," she said.
On April 5, 2022, Morrison-Heberling lost the light of her life. Her 30-year-old daughter, Brianna Sanner, died of a fentanyl overdose.
"From that day forward, which was April 5th, I felt like I've been living outside of my own body. The pain, there's days you just can't get out of bed," Morrison-Heberling said.
Instead of grieving in silence, this mom is speaking up to spread awareness about fentanyl. She's planning a vigil to honor her daughter and other fentanyl overdose victims for the end of the month.
"I have for a long time suffered in silence, because it's so judged, the addiction is a judgment. It's as if her life wasn't worthy to matter but she was so much more than the addiction," Morrison-Heberling said.
Deadly overdoses in Allegheny County have risen since 2018, and in recent years, a large portion of overdose deaths have involved fentanyl.
On Friday afternoon, free Narcan was handed out in Pittsburgh's East Liberty neighborhood. The Allegheny County Health Department Drug Overdose Division has more than a dozen overdose prevention events scheduled in different neighborhoods through July.
Morrison-Heberling said events like that will educate more people about dangers and prevention.
"Education is key, it's not prevention … it's not a solution … but it is going to save lives. People are going to accidentally get this drug or purposely get this drug, more people need to know how to use Narcan, more people need to understand why we have it," she said.
Morrison-Heberling is selling t-shirts with a sculpture called Melancholy that symbolizes grief. She also made more than a hundred purple bracelets for the vigil.
She's asking community members to come to the vigil and show their support on April 30 at 6 p.m. at North Park Pool. They will have vendors like bereavement groups and charities, including the Stop the Judgement Project that'll teach people how to use Narcan.
At the vigil, they will pray together and share stories about loved ones they lost to fentanyl with no judgment.
"She was just a good friend, she had a baby, she was engaged," Morrison-Heberling said.
She also wants to start a charity called Brianna's Healing Journey to provide healing retreats for parents or family members who lost a loved one to drug addiction.
Morrison-Heberling said it's time to open up and work on solutions, in honor of her daughter.
"I finally said you, 'Know what? I'm just going to be real about this. I'm going to be transparent.' Because maybe if just one person hears this, and it saves one family from this then I've done something," she said.
For more information about the vigil in honor of Brianna on April 30th at North Park Pool, keep an eye on the Facebook page.
The county Health Department has multiple overdose prevention pop-up events planned this year. The county Health Department overdose division said, "This series is designed to inform and educate the community on the dangers of drug overdose, the importance of prevention, as well as demonstrate the proper use of NARCAN and other life saving techniques. Each pop-up event will be held in various neighborhoods within the county with a table set up of free NARCAN and other materials to distribute to the community."
Here's the full list of upcoming events:
- Tuesday, April 18th- 12p-4p - McKees Rocks- Hays Manor - 1205 Locust St. 15136
- Tuesday, April 25th - 12p-4p - Mt. Oliver - Clocktower - Hays & Brownsville Rd. 15210
- Friday, May 5th - 12p-4p - Uptown - Amplify Church - 1600 Fifth Ave. 15219
- Tuesday, May 9th - 12p-4p - Homewood - Homewood House - 7130 Frankstown Ave 15208
- Wednesday, May 17th - 12p-4p - Bellevue - The Center of Bellevue - 2 N Sprague Ave 15202
- Tuesday, May 23rd - 12p-4p - Clairton - Millvue - 1410 Marion Circle 15025
- Wednesday, May 31st - 12p-4p - Hill District - C.O.R.C Sidewalk - 1860 Centre Ave 15219
- Tuesday, June 6th - 12p-4p - Southside - Esser Plaza - 12th & Carson St. 15203
- Tuesday, June 13th - 12p-4p - Stowe Township/McKees Rocks - Meyers Ridge - 901 Gray St. 15136
- Thursday, June 15th – 12-4p – Hazelwood 4944 Second Ave. 15207
- Tuesday, June 21st - 12p-4p - Tarentum - LOCATION TBD
- Tuesday, June 27th – 12-4p – East Hills Community Center 2291 Wilner Dr. 15221
- Wednesday, June 28th - 9a-12p - Sharpsburg - Allegheny County District Courthouse - 1205 Main St. 15215
- Friday, July 7th - 12p-4p - Braddock - Hollanders Lot - 910 Braddock Ave 15104
- Tuesday, July 11th - 12p-4p -Northside - The Elks - 400 Cedar Ave 15212
- Thursday, July 20th - 12p-4p - McKeesport - Crawford Village - 2901 Brownlee St 15132
- Tuesday, July 25th - 12p-4p - Natrona Heights - Park Sheldon - 2008 Broadview Blvd 15065
- Monday, July 31st - 12p-4p - Northside - Northview Heights - 533 Mt. Pleasant Rd. 15214
