Thursday, November 02, 2023

Shrine to opioid victim | 5700 block Columbia Pike, Bailey's Crossroads VA

I encountered this memorial to a teenager who died of an opioid overdose in the parking lot of the Aldi supermarket parking lot in Baileys' Crossroads, Virginia.

May this young man rest in peace, and his family be spared further grief.

From a post on FairfaxNow: "Two 16-year-old boys overdosed on Sunday (June 25, 2023) — one of them fatally — in a car parked outside Aldi (5725 Columbia Pike) in Bailey’s Crossroads, the Fairfax County Police Department reported yesterday. Officers were dispatched to the grocery store’s parking lot at 7:21 p.m. after receiving a call for two individuals found unconscious in a vehicle “with foam coming out their mouths,” according to a dispatcher.“[The] caller did bang on the window. However, they are not responding,” the dispatcher said.

Emergency medical services personnel with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department were dispatched to the scene around 7:23 p.m. First responders began administering CPR and Narcan, a nasal spray that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. Responders were able to detect a pulse from one of the juveniles after two doses of Narcan, an officer told the dispatcher at 7:28 p.m.

Both juveniles were taken to local hospitals in conditions considered life-threatening. One person later died at the hospital, while the other “remains hospitalized in critical condition,” the FCPD says. Preliminarily, police believe the overdoses are related to opioids,... Fairfax County has seen a surge in opioid overdoses since 2019, particularly among youth and often involving the drug fentanyl."

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