New awareness walk sheds light on the dangers surrounding fentanyl

September 13 marks the first annual fentanyl awareness day walk started by Joseph Fourre after his son died from fentanyl poisoning at the age of 31.

“It’s been a tough grind. I am not going to say I don’t miss him every day, especially today, because today was his birthday. He would’ve been 33-years-old today,” explained Fourre.

Fourre says a year and a half ago, his son was out with friends in The Pas, Manitoba, about 625 kilometres north of Winnipeg, when he took the drug and died. His death came as a complete shock to the entire family as Harlan did not have a known history of abusing drugs.   

“It’s bittersweet, but he left us with a really important message. Fentanyl and the opioid crisis is not just as addiction issue, it can happen to anyone.” 

Fourre kickstarted the first-ever Fentanyl Awareness Day Walk, walking from Oodena Circle at The Forks, down Broadway to the Legislative building.

“… create a day where we talk about fentanyl and we talk about fentanyl poisoning not just from an addiction standpoint or a recreation standpoint, but from a death standpoint,” said Fourre.

Since December 24, Sandra Mohamed has given 36 doses of naloxone to different people.

“It is getting a lot worse and I think we need naloxone kits in every business, every store and every place where people gather,” said Mohamed.

“Only one of them hasn’t walked away and it’s very hard on a human not being able to help somebody and it’s not their choice to take the added chemicals that are in the drug. This is why it’s very important and I think it is very important for every single human on Earth to care about the next one.”

Fourre says between January 1 and April 30 of 2024, 171 people have died due to an overdose — 100 of those involved fentanyl. 

“We will do this every year until fentanyl is no longer an issue in our communities,” said Fourre. “It’s not a question anymore of don’t do drugs you might get addicted. It’s don’t do drugs because you might die.”