Tree Honoring Overdose Victims Running Out of Room
In Knoxville, the DA’s office created a somber Christmas tree this year called the Overdose Memorial Tree, with each ornament listing the name of someone in Knox County who died of an overdose during 2017.
“Everyday the number goes up,” said Charme Allen, District Attorney General for Knox County. “It’s a somber thing for us to do.”
Somber is probably an understatement as the tree represents close to 250 families in Knox County who have each lost a loved one to an overdose.
One mother, Kim Jones , hung an ornament in memory of her son Patrick who was just 21-years-old.
“I lost him on May 19 this year to a heroin overdose,” she said. Patrick had been in and out of treatment centers trying to recover, but did not spend enough time in any one facility to fully recover.
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To learn more about how Knoxville is honoring the memory of its overdose victims, please visit WBIR.com.