Families Gather In Remembrance Of Loved Ones At Fentanyl Awareness Rally

A rally was held at the Tulsa County Courthouse at 9 a.m. Thursday morning to bring attention to the dangers of illegal drugs and fentanyl.

This is the sixth annual "Illicit Drug and Fentanyl Awareness Rally" hosted by Families Supporting Families.

The rally brings out community members who have lost loved ones to deadly drugs. Crosses and posters represent those who have lost their life to opioids. Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler will attend the rally and said his office is seeing an alarming increase in cases involving fentanyl and other deadly drugs.

The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics reports the number of fentanyl overdose deaths increased from 47 deaths in 2019 to 297 in 2021. Diane Searle started the rally after she lost her daughter in March of 2018 to heroin poisoning.

She also started the group "Families Supporting Families" for people who have experienced a similar loss. Whitney Ruggles said Searle reached out to her after Ruggles lost her 15-year-old son in 2021.

This will be her first time attending the rally. She said she hopes it brings awareness, so no other family has to deal with the same type of pain.

"My son was awesome. He was smart, defiant, courageous, rambunctious -- he was awesome," Ruggles said.