RICHMOND, Va. β Virginia Commonwealth University is expanding the Fentanyl College Ambassador Program as part of the fight against fentanyl on campus.
The program is part of First Lady Suzanne Youngkin's It Only Takes One initiative. Youngkin visited VCU for the announcement, which included a discussion with Virginians impacted by opioid addiction.
The discussion featured Tom Bannard, who helped create Rams in Recovery after his own struggle with addiction in college, and Jill Cichowicz, who created the group 2 End the Stigma after losing her twin brother to a fentanyl overdose.
"Kind of my whole life had fallen apart as a result of my addiction and, and I was really, really fortunate because I called home. I had a family that, uh, had some experience with addiction that knew that their son wasn't bad, uh, it wasn't a bad, it wasn't a parenting fail. It was, he was somebody that needed help," Bannard said.
Cichowicz shared her brother's story during the event.
"He had a back injury in 2014. He was running gyms in Manhattan Beach, California," Cichowicz said. "Scott was good looking, dating 20-year-old models on Facebook. He had the life that you wanted, right? Except he didn't. He was really struggling and he never got counseling. He started battling depression and he was seeking medicine from pretty much everywhere at this point."
Cichowicz says after being cut off from prescription opioids, her brother turned to a friend to get a pill. He was told it was OxyContin, but the toxicology report found that one pill had enough fentanyl to kill an elephant.
Her story highlights the importance of the new ambassadors at VCU, who will help spread awareness of the dangers of taking even one pill, making a difference on and off campus.
The event also included Revive overdose response training opportunities.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
π²: CONNECT WITH US
Blue Sky | Facebook | Instagram | X | Threads | TikTok | YouTube
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. To learn more about how we use AI in our newsroom, click here.
