LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Last year there were 545 overdose deaths among Clark County residents.
According to the Foundation for Recovery, 66 percent of those deaths were fentanyl related.
"The doctor said to me when he walked up, how long have you been free?'" said Robert Banghart. "That impacted me as a person in long term recovery, I am free today."
It's not easy for Banghart to talk about the day he almost died.
"I was in a tent under a bridge, I did a shot of heroin and I overdosed, it was a shot I did 1,000 times before," he said. "I wake up in the hospital, but I can tell you now having gone back the same people that were in the tent using with me were the ones with the Narcan."
Banghart says he's alive today thanks to the Foundation for Recovery, the Shine a Light Foundation and other available resources.
Meeting with volunteers who were packing overdose rescue kits, secretary Hillary Clinton says since 2019, her foundation has provided Nevada with more than 20k doses of medication used to treat dug overdose.
"It is a tragedy for every single person, and it has to be addressed and it has to be addressed effectively," Clinton said.
Banghart says support from government leaders is critical.
"We need that attention," he said. "We need to continue to push that needle and push that because there are still a lot of barriers, there is no reason there shouldn't be enough Narcan to help everybody."
The 545 overdose deaths in Clark County last year is a 23 percent increase in overdose deaths since 2018.
"I think it's fentanyl, that is the first thing that comes into my mind is how deadly it is," he said.
The numbers show 66 percent of opioid deaths in 2022 were fentanyl related.
Banghart says after being in recovery for many years, he was inspired to help another addict, Danica Martinez to a different way of life.
Martinez listened and also joined the Foundation for Recovery.
"It is vital, it is extremely vital, if you don't have these organizations such as these that pass it out, then it is not readily available," she said.
But Martinez says more still needs to be done to prevent people from dying.
"If it wasn't for these organization, I wouldn't be here and many other people as well," she said.
