On Friday, hundreds gathered on the State Capitol steps for an event marking International Overdose Awareness Day. Attendees remembered the lives lost to addiction and discussed paths to recovery.
"In Arkansas in 2017, we had 429 overdose deaths," Arkansas State Drug Director Kirk Lane told the crowd.
Four years ago, Andy Agar lost his son Jake to a fentanyl overdose during his junior year at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
"There's always a hole in your heart," Mr. Agar said. "There's always the missing person that you know should be at the table with you."
On a mission to spread awareness, Agar spoke during Friday's event, which was the second of its kind in Arkansas.
"They call it a crisis and it earned the name crisis," he said.
Shannon Mulkern, business development representative for Palmetto Addiction Recovery Center, helped organize the event.
She says battling addiction starts with understanding what resources are available to help and ending that's associated with it.
"It affects all walks of life," Mulkern said. "There's not a single person that overdose and drug addiction and alcoholism do not discriminate against."
When the speaker began, a rainbow appeared in the sky, symbolizing a simple of hope for recovery.
"If we can save one more life, that's going to be worthwhile with what we're doing here," Agar said.
For THV11's coverage of the opioid epidemic in Arkansas, we included a list of treatment resources -- click here.