Prince William County urges opioid overdose awareness, education

MANASSAS PARK, Va. ( DC News Now ) — Ahead of Saturday’s International Overdose Awareness Day, a community in the Prince William County area came together to share their stories of loss to inspire change.

Prince William County hosted an opioid overdose awareness event on Tuesday at the Manassas Park Community Center. The event centered around a panel, where multiple parents who lost children to an overdose discussed their losses and desire to help others.

“I decided to put my pain into action and tried to find answers,” said Sara Lowry, who lost her son Aiden when he was 17. Aiden, who attended Colgan High School, struggled with substance use.

Suzanne and Mike Lynn, who lost their son Derek at 31, were the keynote speakers. Derek died last September, and they said while it was tough to talk about their loss, they wanted to do so to help others.

“It was an uphill battle, just finding him help,” Suzanne Lynn said.

At the panel was DEA Agent Tyrone Guyse, who said fentanyl in particular is a problem the agency is trying to target.

“Fentanyl is killing people,” he said. “It’s killing young adults. And we’re taking a strong, very strong, hard look at the abuse and use of fentanyl.”

From 2018 to 2023, more than 450 people in the Prince William region died of an opioid overdose. The number of nonfatal opioid overdoses has more than doubled since 2017.

While there have been some signs of a slowdown, the overdose rate in Black and Latino communities is rising more rapidly than in others.

While the panelists said more services are needed, the goal of this event was education and outreach.

“Parents don’t have the information or the resources to know what to look for upfront and then navigate the system,” Mike Lynn said. Suzanne Lynn added, “That’s why we have to educate people.”

Prince William County will continue the conversation with another panel at the Chinn Park Library on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

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