Mother advocates for more addiction resources in Grainger County

BLAINE, Tenn. (WATE) — At the Blaine Fall Festival Saturday, the community remembered those they have lost to fentanyl poisoning, and one mother advocated for more resources in her daughter’s memory.

Two years ago, Christy Collins’ daughter Cierra Matthews died from fentanyl poisoning. Now Collins is spreading awareness in her community about the lack of understanding around addiction, and the presence of fentanyl in Grainger County.

“I don’t want my daughter’s death to be in vain,” said Collins, “I want to bring awareness that we need to do things a different way than we have been, we need to try a different approach.”

Collins explained that there aren’t enough mental health or treatment facilities in Grainger County to support those in addiction, which is why she partnered with her community to bring more awareness to the problem.

“We’re losing too many people, and we need to stop this, you know, so if we can raise awareness and save just one life, we have accomplished something here today,” said William Kibble, the president of the Grainger County Ridge Runner Car Club.

Kibble said Matthews was family to him, and since her death he partnered with Collins to keep this from happening to others.

At the festival, Collins and her partners supplied Naloxone, CPR masks, and Fentanyl tests to help those be prepared if they find themselves in a life-threatening situation. They also had resources for those in addiction.

“As a whole the state has actually seen a decrease in overdose in the last couple of years,” said Tennessee Regional Overdose Prevention Specialist, Kristi McCaleb. “We think a big reason for that is the availability of Naloxone in our communities. So, they have been made available through our grant, but through other agencies that have just gotten on board and said, ‘we’re losing too many.’”

McCaleb said she partnered with Collins to supply Naloxone not only to help others, but because of her shared experience of having a child go through addiction. By educating the community, and supplying the resources they need, they hope to put a stop to fatal overdose.

“Just because you don’t acknowledge it, it’s in your county, it’s here, Fentanyl is here, and you know thinking it’s not — is not going to make it go away,” said Collins.

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