Downtown Pittsburgh billboard remembers overdose victims
There's a new billboard in downtown Pittsburgh that's hopefully getting your attention.
The group Pittsburgh Won't Forget You gathered on Grant Street on Sunday as the billboard went live. It shows the faces and names of children, spouses, siblings and others whose lives were cut short by a drug overdose.
One couple recently went to the funeral of a friend's son, who died of an overdose. They buried their own son eight years earlier.
“It's the exact same thing. He is 28, my son would have been 28,” said Dino Bartolomucci. “And I thought, wow, he got to spend 8 more years with his son than I did, but he ultimately lost, and that's unfortunately what has to happen — you have to realize if you don't stop, it won't quit — just remember, make the right choices in life and you'll live longer.”
Thirty-two different families paid for the billboard. Their message: There's no shame in losing a child or loved one to drugs, and more intervention is needed to save others.