(Photo/Laura Hayes)
MARLBOROUGH – This year’s annual candlelight vigil for Overdose Awareness Day in Marlborough will feature special guest speakers Chris Sullivan, who used to play for the New England Patriots, and his wife Kathi.
Sullivan had previously spoken at a vigil in 2019.
The pair met while Kathi was presenting at a parent night, according to their website.
Kathi’s daughter, Taylor, died at 17 after she attended a homecoming game and underage parties. According to their website, Taylor had gotten lost during a party in the woods at an abandoned airport in Norfolk and drowned in two feet of water.
Organizer Kathy Leonard wanted Sullivan to return to the Marlborough event because the 2019 vigil had low turnout.
The vigil began in 2015. Leonard developed the idea for the vigil following the death of her son, Jonathan Testa, when he was 27 in 2014.
Each year it features a display of purple flags, and every flag commemorates an overdose death in Massachusetts from the prior year.
(Photo/Laura Hayes)
“Sadly, we keep having to increase the number of flags,” said Leonard.
In that first year, 1,200 flags were planted. This year there will be more than 2,200 flags.
“The flag display is sad yet beautiful,” Leonard said. “I chose to do that because I am a very visual learner, and I thought the impact of seeing that many flags would be powerful.”
Event is Aug. 31
Last year, the vigil featured the founder of the Opioid Spoon Project Dominic Esposito and photographer Michael Blanchard.
The vigil will be held outside of the Walker Building on Aug. 31.
A memorial slideshow with photographs of people who have died from overdoses will begin at 6:45 p.m. There will also be free Narcan training starting at 6:15 p.m., and Narcan spray will be provided for the first 100 people.
Leonard said Marlborough’s response to the vigils has been good. Typically more than 200 people attend the vigil.
Leonard said that the topic of overdose is important all over the world, and that someone dies as a result of overdose once every five minutes in the United States.
“When you see the memorial slideshow and you see all of those faces up there, it’s just really sad,” Leonard said. “To see all those faces, all of these beautiful people whose lives have been cut short.”
Anyone with questions or concerns can email Leonard at [email protected].
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