‘Every Death We Can Prevent’: KC Mayor Meets With Students in Fight Against Opioid Deaths

Students from North Kansas City high schools — dressed in business attire — filled the Prairie View Conference Center at North Kansas City Hospital to present their efforts to reduce opioid overdoses in the city to Mayor Quinton Lucas and about 80 observers.

The presenters on Wednesday were members of the Northland Center for Advanced Professional Studies. This program partners with Northland school districts to provide high schoolers with hands-on career opportunities.

The teens have worked with the hospital to educate the community about the dangers of opioids and the benefits of Narcan, a lifesaving drug that can reverse opioid overdoses. Their efforts have resulted in the distribution of more than 1,700 naloxone kits, the generic form of Narcan, in North Kansas City since April 2022.

The program also aims to “provide a safe space” for individuals battling addiction to seek help.

“Our project has been a part of the North Kansas City hospital for five years. The first two started with gathering feedback and data from teenagers. The next three have been left to us (students) to go out to the community to spread the distribution of Narcan and opioid awareness,” a student told the audience.

As the students transition into internships at hospitals and clinics, their work will continue with shelters and jails that will provide naloxone kits to those in need.

‘A very sweet person’

As students passed the mic one by one to speak, Lillian Ricketts, 18, shared why she has a passion for raising awareness on a crisis that has affected her family. She recalled going fishing with her “sweet” uncle, Oren Seigal, 54, who is the reason she caught her first fish. Over time, Seigal’s personality began to shift, stemming from opioid addiction.

“My uncle was homeless for as long as I’ve known him. He was a very sweet person,” Ricketts said. “He got addicted to pills and became distant and angry. He unfortunately passed away in October.”

Seeing someone she loved battle addiction motivated Ricketts to work with her peers on the initiative.

“I chose this one (project) because it was personal to me. I had the experience, but at that point, my uncle wasn’t dead,” Ricketts said.

With the recent death of her uncle, working on a project to save lives is ironic for Ricketts, but filled with purpose.

Another group of students began their lecture with a collage of Ethan Everly, 16, who died in March 2022 after taking a drug laced with fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid drug, unbeknownst to him.

Earlier this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported there were 109,698 overdose deaths in 2022. As previously reported by the Star, Kansas City saw a nearly 1,000% increase in overdose deaths from 2017 to 2021. The Star reported that more than 850 people in the city have died from fentanyl since 2018.

After the students spoke, the mayor approached the audience, expounding on the crisis of drug overdoses in the city.

“There are many great challenges that are city faces, but frankly sometimes they are different in certain areas,” Lucas said.

However, the statistics show the rise in deaths caused by fentanyl and opioids in Kansas City does not discriminate by zip code.

“Fentanyl and opioid-related deaths are something that we are seeing in every part of Kansas City,” the mayor said. He also told the audience that opioid-related deaths and fentanyl have “vastly” outpaced accidental deaths, with an increase of 938% since 2017.

As the mayor spoke, he grabbed a sheet of paper, and read statistics of fentanyl deaths affecting Kansas City.

“In 2022, Missouri saw 43 child deaths from fentanyl-related poisoning,” Lucas said. “Of those, 20 were between the ages of 15 and 17 … and sadly, 20 were under the age of 5.”

Lucas added the city is working to attack the issue of drug deaths by implementing an “overdose fatality review board.” Similar to how the city tracks fatal shootings and stabbings, deaths by drug overdoses will soon be closely monitored. The tracking of deaths by overdose, Lucas argued, can ultimately help inform the public of ways to help reduce the toll.

After the event, the mayor praised students’ efforts and said he was touched by Rickett’s remarks about her unhoused uncle who she said died from opioid addiction. Lucas told the Star that during a police ride-along in Los Angeles, he visited Skid Row, an area where he witnessed rampant homelessness and the devastation of drug abuse.

“I recognized that when we look at some of our own (Kansas City) encampments, therein lies the actual problem,” Lucas said. “Homelessness isn’t just a poverty issue, it’s a healthcare issue, a prevention issue, and a fentanyl issue. …And we should do everything we can to stop it.”

The city plans to continue its efforts to raise awareness of the fentanyl and opioid crisis this Friday, Dec. 8, from 2 to 4 p.m., at a “Fentanyl Summit” held at the Kansas City Health Department.

“I’m a human being with a heart,” Lucas said.

“And every death we can prevent is something that I think we are here to do,” the mayor told the Star.

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