BEAVER, WV (WOAY) – Anchor Medical in Beaver invited the community out for a day worth celebrating. It was the facility’s Patient Appreciation Day, where former and current patients were being recognized for their recovery and well-being.
They celebrated it through guest speakers, a live DJ, prizes and giveaways, and food and drink. Offering an abundance of treatment options, one such treatment the facility offers is for Substance Use Disorder.
And, a major part of the occasion was that approximately 300 patients were celebrating their recovery from substance use.
“It’s such a free feeling, being able to go out, be around people, and be completely and 100% sober.”
The facility also recently received a grant through the Community Education Group to expand testing and immunizations throughout rural areas. They were holding Covid and STD testing, and various kinds of immunizations during the event as a way to give back to their patients.
“These people just need to know that they’re doing fantastic, and that’s not something that they should shy away from or be ashamed of, they should celebrate the fact that they’re in recovery,” an RN and office manager for Anchor Medical, Amanda Duesing says.
Now four years sober, Peer Recovery Support Specialist for Compass Counseling, Sharon Allen was one of the people working a booth at the event.
After overdosing on heroine, she received four doses of Narcan– a drug used to save people from overdose deaths in emergency situations. While in the ER, she found out she was three months pregnant. Her son is now 4 and a half years old and Allen is happy she can coach other mothers toward a life of recovery.
“I get to take my lived experience and empower others and help other mothers. It is so rewarding, you know, I tell everybody that God took my biggest mess and turned it into my biggest message,” Allen says.
Free Narcan was also being given away at the event, along with information on how it works to help those who are overdosing.
