By EMS1 Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Ky. — First responders used the humorous viral Mannequin Challenge to bring attention to the growing opioid epidemic.
The Grant County Sheriff’s Office participated in the challenge, along with a civilian, to portray an overdose scene. The video, dubbed the “Worst Outcome,” depicts a frozen-in-time scene. A grandmother and children discover their parents have overdosed on heroin, while first responders rush to the scene.
“It’s just a horrific scene for anyone to walk into,” Thomas Worthington, who made the video, said. “But it’s a scene plenty of people have walked into.”
Worthington created the video after his cousin died of a heroin overdose in February, reported WLWT.
“It devastated all of us, honestly, I broke down, I probably never cried that hard in my life,” Worthington said.
Worthington’s 12-year-old son, deputies and paramedics participated in the video. It has garnered over 70,000 views online.
Worthington hopes the video will raise awareness of the stark realities of overdoses, and will prompt people to seek help in battling their addiction.