STORM WATCH

Wintry mix, sleet and freezing rain to possibly create hazardous travel conditions in Connecticut

Fighting back against opioids: Bridgeport mothers turn shared grief into action

Two Bridgeport mothers who lost their children to fentanyl overdoses are using their grief to form an initiative and build awareness about the dangers of opioids.

News 12 Staff

Feb 26, 2022, 6:06 PM

Updated 1,075 days ago

Share:

Two Bridgeport mothers who lost their children to fentanyl overdoses are using their grief to form an initiative and build awareness about the dangers of opioids.
Brenda Moreno says that when she lost her son, 35-year-old Jonathan Ortega, last year to a fentanyl overdose, her whole life seemed to grind to a halt.
"You feel an emptiness in your heart. You try to fill that void, but there's nothing that will fill it," Moreno said.
She is now healing now by helping others. Moreno soon joined up with Iris Seda, whose daughter Ana Sepulveda also died of a fentanyl overdose around the same time.
They formed COPE, a new initiative to build awareness about the dangers of opioids and help to distribute Narcan – an emergency treatment that reverses the effects of an overdose.
Both women are working to get young people off the street and away from drugs. They are encouraging those young people to attend a job fair at 1846 Barnum Ave. on Saturday, March 19 at 1 p.m.