INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Sunday marks International Bereaved Mother’s Day, a day aimed at honoring any mother that has experienced the loss of a child or is unable to have children. 

The day falls on the first Sunday of May each year. This year, it falls a week before Mother’s Day on May 12. 

For Justin Phillips, the day is used as a way to honor the life of her son, Aaron Phillips, and continue her work as an advocate for anyone impacted by substance use disorder. 

At 20 years old, Aaron Phillips died in 2013 due to a heroin overdose. He attended Lawrence North High School and was a stand out football player, who was known for loving skateboarding.

In 2012, he told his mom he was struggling with drug use and said he needed help. His family worked to get him that help via treatment. 

Justin Phillips said at the time she did not know just how deadly opioids could be, likely because very few people knew of their danger. 

“I did not know he could overdose so easily and lose his life,” Justin Phillips said. 

Less than two months after Aaron Phillips died, his mom learned of a potentially life-saving medication: Naloxone. 

“I learned about Naloxone, some people refer to it as Narcan, 45 days after Aaron lost his life,” Justin Phillips said. “I was shocked that there was this drug that no one had told us about.”

That moment altered the trajectory of her life, giving her a new mission. That’s when Overdose Lifeline was born. 

As founder and CEO of the nonprofit, Justin Phillips and her team work to provide Naloxone kits and Fentanyl test strips all over the state. 

In addition to that statewide distribution, the organization offers a host of support programs for anyone who has lost a loved one, training groups, mentoring groups, free kids camps, and a recovery center for women. 

For a full list of the work they do and information on camps and support group meetings, click here. 

In 2015, the Gov. Mike Pence signed into law “Aaron’s Law,” which provides access to Naloxone to any person without a prescription. An amendment to that bill in 2016 made changes to the need for standing orders, meaning many pharmacy chains around the state now carry the nasal-spray form of Naloxone, according to their site. 

As Justin Phillips’ advocacy work continues on, she’s using this year’s International Bereaved Mother’s Day as a way to remind other moms who have lost a child or are unable to have a child that they are not alone. 

“I think it’s just important to acknowledge,” Justin Phillips said. “Oftentimes, people don’t want to talk to you about your child that you’ve lost because they think it’s too sad for you, but it’s actually the complete opposite. We want to talk about them, we want to remember them, we want to say their names.”