Expand<\/a><\/p>\nIn October 2019, his son, U.S. Marine Christian Reed, had ear surgery that ultimately ruptured his eardrum. At the end of his course of medication, Reed was still in pain. A fellow Marine introduced him to a civilian who could help, assuring him the man was reliable.<\/p>\n
Instead, the medication provided to him was laced with fentanyl.<\/p>\n
Reed, stationed in San Diego, was found unresponsive on May 21, 2020, the day after his 26th birthday. Two Marines knocked on Mancini\u2019s Scranton front door the following day to tell him his son had died. Mancini contacted the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and learned his son died from a fentanyl overdose.<\/p>\n
In September 2022, a federal jury in San Diego convicted Nameer Mohammad Atta of Reed\u2019s death. Evidence presented during the trial showed Atta sold Reed fake painkillers that he knew contained fentanyl.<\/p>\n
But Mancini would wait three more years before Atta was sentenced to 20 years behind bars in January.<\/p>\n
Court records show Atta is incarcerated in Tucson, Arizona, but Mancini had hoped he would be serving his time on the East Coast. It would be only fair that his parents would have to make their way across the country to see their son, just as he had had to do, Mancini said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis life mattered. His story matters. And I will continue to speak his name, not only because of how he died, but because of how he lived,\u201d Mancini said.\u00a0 \u201cHe was loved. He was proud. He was funny. He was strong. He was kind. He was my son. I was the best dad I could be because of him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sharing their own story<\/p>\n
Scranton councilman Patrick Flynn made the walk through downtown not in his capacity as a government official, but as someone intimately acquainted with the dangers of drug use and addiction.<\/p>\n
Flynn, who has been in recovery for about 12 years, takes every opportunity to inform and inspire others on the issue. By speaking openly about his own struggles, he hopes to reduce the stigma surrounding addiction and spread the message that a path to recovery exists, no matter how low someone has fallen.<\/p>\n
First Assistant District Attorney Andrew Krowiak told the crowd that the District Attorney\u2019s Office is committed to punishing those who bring drugs into the area to the fullest extent of the law. However, he emphasized that it is also the office\u2019s responsibility to connect individuals with resources to overcome addiction and mental health issues, making long-term success more likely.<\/p>\n
Camille Siglin clung to a framed photo of her brother, Zach, throughout the event.<\/p>\n
Zach Siglin lost his life to an overdose in 2022 when he was just 35 years old. He had recently moved to Florida to try to get his life together.<\/p>\n
While attempting to get high, he bought a drug, unaware that it contained fentanyl.<\/p>\n
Now, Camille Siglin is working to get the word out that fentanyl is deadly, hoping people are listening.<\/p>\n
Mark Zingaro is in recovery, but can\u2019t count how many friends he lost to overdoses.<\/p>\n
He points out that drug dealers aren\u2019t pharmacists, nor are they concerned about the impact of the drugs they sell.<\/p>\n
Packets from the batch of drugs can have various strengths. You can be okay one day and the next you\u2019re dead, he said.<\/p>\n
In remarks to the crowd, Mancini said it was appropriate that the walk started at the Children\u2019s Library. He wants to get the word out to everyone, as young as possible and as often as possible, that drugs can kill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than 20 people gathered in front of Scranton\u2019s Children\u2019s Library on Saturday, intent on combatting the fentanyl…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241131,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[182,139,178,180,179,729],"class_list":["post-241130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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