Mount Pleasant Magazine Jan/Feb 2018

86 www.MPtownCouncil.com | www.MPMcalendar.com | www.MountPleasantMagazine.com feature In November 2015, Creighton tried heroin. Shipman knew something was different when he came home for the summer after his freshman year at college but had no idea of the struggle consuming him. Realizing he couldn’t fight this battle alone, Creighton admitted to his mom he needed help, and she immediately set out to find treatment. “He said he wanted his family and life back,” she recalled. After completing the first part of a rehab program, Creighton was released, succumbing to his addiction only days later. Shipman has now made it her mission to pick up the torch for her son, informing as many people as possible about substance abuse. With the support of family and friends, Wake Up Carolina has grown from a few people sitting around a kitchen table sharing ideas to a solid group of 16 core members dedicated to shedding light on what has become a nationwide problem. “It was started with the idea of waking people up to what’s happening right here in our town,” Shipman explained. “You think it just happens in certain areas or to certain people, but it’s everywhere. And this kind of addiction often begins with prescribed pain medication.” As executive director of Wake Up Carolina, Shipman said the group didn’t foresee the idea gaining so such momentum. “Sometimes things just come together the way they’re supposed to. You have an idea and try to plan something, but you don’t know how it will work,” she added. Now, with bylaws, a mission statement and planned events, this growing nonprofit organization is having an impact throughout the state. “I don’t think people should deal with this kind of thing alone. They need a support system to help and resources,” Shipman said. “It’s important that we make people aware of what’s out there and that it can happen to anyone.” Shipman has spent a great deal of time educating herself on the issue. While attending an event in Atlanta in early 2017, she learned about recovery and about how much of an opioid problem exists throughout the country. “What I realized at that moment is that with Wake Up, we were making people aware, educating them, connecting stories – sad ones like mine,” she explained. “It brought a new revitalization in my heart, and that’s how we went into adding what we call the four pillars – prevention, awareness, education and recovery.” Shipman also learned about Narcan (Naloxone), a narcotic blocker used for the complete or partial reversal of opioid, heroin and fentanyl overdoses. “When Creighton overdosed, if he had been given Narcan, perhaps he would have had a chance to live. We’ll never know. Up to this point, people were negative about it because they said it was just putting a band-aid on the problem,” Shipman said. Narcan is carried by EMS and emergency management technicians, but often it’s police officers who are first on the scene. With Wake Up Carolina bringing attention to this resource, state and local law enforcement agencies are now educated and trained through the South Carolina LEON (Law Enforcement Officer Naloxone) Training Program on how to use Narcan and are arming their officers with it. With the opioid crisis at epidemic proportions nationwide, more law enforcement agencies across the country are having their officers carry Narcan. “What I realize now is that people need as many resources as they can get, and it’s not our place to judge,” Shipman said. “There are people who, with this help and the grace of God, got on their path to recovery. Narcan is just one of many tools.” As Wake Up Carolina grows, other local organizations are partnering with the group to add their knowledge and help support the cause. Wood Marchant, director of the Collegiate Recovery Program at the College of Charleston, is one such supporter. “I have a friend who coached Creighton in Lacrosse, and, after his death, I saw a lot of people reaching out to help, and I wanted to get involved, too,” he said. “I’m pretty open about my own recovery, now over 20 years sober, and, after meeting Nanci, I really wanted her to share her story with our students.” Nanci Steadman Shipman talks with Mount Pleasant Police Chief Carl Ritchie at a recent Wake Up Carolina event.