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Cranberry Twp. EMTs to distribute ‘Hope' to OD victims revived with Narcan

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Jason Beckwith has been in recovery for his heroin addiction for 18 months now.

“It brought me down to a point, in all honesty, of kill yourself or change. That's how desperate I became, and I chose change,” he told Channel 11 News Thursday.

Beckwith said while the process hasn’t been easy, he’s focused on not becoming just another statistic.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 13,000 people across the country died last year from a heroin overdose. That’s just above the number of gun-related homicides.

Cranberry Township in Butler County, which is one of the hardest hit locally by the heroin epidemic, is also taking steps toward lowering the statistic, with the help of its “Hope” postcard.

Starting Monday, cards, which have the word “Hope” printed on one side and agencies where people can seek help printed on the other, will be stocked in all of the townships’ ambulances and handed out to anyone who has to be revived with Narcan.

Numbers in Butler County show there were 47 overdose deaths last year. This year, the number stands at 58.

Ted Fessides, the deputy chief of administration for Cranberry Township, told Channel 11 News about the idea behind the new postcards.

“The whole idea is to say, ‘Hey, we don't have to let them keep going through this. There's other ways. Here's some treatment facilities nearby,’” Fessides said.

He said he hopes the cards gives those with heroin addictions the push they need to seek help.

“Keep that fight alive. Keep the hope. It's out there, and there’s help. There's people out there trying to make a change,” Beckwith said.