CLEARWATER, Fla. — Forty-two percent of Americans personally know at least one person who has died of a drug overdose, according to a recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health.

The Recovery Epicenter Foundation in Clearwater is working to prevent those deaths.

Staff member Natalie Marcinek helps to distribute boxes of Narcan to local businesses each spring, which has been proven to be a critical tool in preventing overdose deaths.

Marcinek saw the effects of Narcan firsthand when she came across someone overdosing while on her lunch break at a nearby hospital.

“He is like hunched over, and I work in drug recovery, so instinct was to walk over and be like, ‘Hey, are you OK, like what’s happening?’” said Marcinek. “Fortunately, I carry Narcan in my purse. I mean, that could’ve been that guy’s last day, so…”

For every life she knows Narcan can save, she can’t help but think of one that was lost.

Her high school boyfriend, Jeff, passed away when the two were just teenagers, after using cocaine laced with fentanyl.

“Saddest thing,” Marcinek said. “You can see someone go on life support and basically die in your arms is very, very traumatic and very sad. I mourn the loss of him every day.

“That was not his time to go, but that’s the sad reality of what drugs and addiction do to you.”