ANDERSON, Ind. -- Addiction and loss is hard for adults to cope with, but imagine being 12 years old and trying to explain the pain of that kind of loss to other people.
"It doesn't just hurt the person that does it. It hurts the people that care about them," said Avery Elmore.
Avery saw his dad for the last time less than six months ago.
"It's always gonna be hard. This is not something you can just move forward on, " said Avery
He stood in front of an audience in Anderson on Saturday sharing about the heroin overdose that took his father's life.
"His demon got ahold of him. We would go with our dad to the methadone clinic but didn't know what it was at the time," said Avery.
Dewayne Elmore was trying to get help for his addiction but lost his battle at age 36.
His son is now urging people who battle with addiction to get help before its too late.
Across the United States, 91 lives are lost every day from overdose.
"It's a public health crisis and we've got to talk about it," said Justin Phillips.
"I lost my son. He didn't get a second chance, so it's very important to me that people get a second chance," said Phillips.
A second chance in the form of overdose reversal kits given out Saturday at an addiction awareness event in Madison County.
Phillips says saving a loved one from overdose is the first step on the path to beating addiction.
As Avery shares his father's story, "People will judge, and he doesn't care! That's what good advocates are made of," said Phillips.
Even through his own heartache, Avery is giving hope that recovery is possible.
"We're trying to move forward but still remember this in hopes that he's watching over us and that he will stay with us," said Avery.
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