Words and Cover Image by Jenny Lynn Davis | Additional Images courtesy of the Bridges family
When Heather Light talks about her sister, Lauren Bridges, she wants people to know more than how Lauren died.
Lauren was a mother to Ella. She was a registered nurse before addiction took hold of her life. She was funny, carefree, giving, and loving. Since Lauren’s death, people have reached out to Heather to share memories of her sister – stories of Lauren giving to others, accepting others, and being the kind of friend people never forgot.
“She was very accepting and very fun to be around,” Heather says. “I remember how much I enjoyed being with her.”
Lauren died from fentanyl poisoning on September 1, 2024. Her death devastated her family, but it also deepened Heather’s commitment to raising awareness, reducing stigma, and helping other families avoid the same loss.
That mission will come to Jasper on Saturday, July 11, when Heather and her family host a local Walk for Lives event at Gamble Park.
Jasper’s walk is part of Walk for Lives, a national movement organized by families, advocates, and communities working to confront the fentanyl crisis through awareness, education, resources, and remembrance. According to organizers, Jasper is the only Alabama location for this year’s Walk for Lives effort.
Even before losing Lauren, Heather had seen the effects of addiction up close through her work as a teacher. While teaching at Sumiton Middle School, she started a group for students experiencing trauma. Many of those students, she said, came from families who were impacted by addiction.
“I feel like we as a society don’t do a very good job of educating our kids,” Heather says. “There aren’t drug awareness programs in our schools right now that really focus on this issue, and our kids are not educated the way they should be. I feel like that is very important.”
After Lauren’s death, Heather started Lauren’s Legacy, a nonprofit created to raise awareness and reach people affected by addiction, particularly as fentanyl continues to take lives across the country.
Heather said one of the most dangerous realities of the fentanyl crisis is that many people do not realize what they are taking may contain fentanyl. Pills or other substances can be laced with fentanyl without the user’s knowledge, creating deadly consequences.
“Fentanyl awareness is a big deal, and that is what the walk is about – bringing awareness to fentanyl overdose,” Heather says.
The crisis is not distant from Walker County. The 2023 Annual Report from the Alabama Opioid Overdose and Addiction Council reported that Walker County had the third-highest rate of nonfatal opioid overdoses in the country, with the fifth-highest percent increase in the country as of 2022. The same report also noted that Alabama recorded 1,408 drug overdose deaths in 2021.
Heather says those numbers matter, but the people behind them matter more.
“I wish more people understood that each person is a human being,” Heather says. “It is somebody’s sister, somebody’s brother, somebody’s mother.”
She says addiction is too often treated as a character flaw rather than a mental health crisis, and people struggling with addiction are too often dismissed or judged.
Through Walk for Lives, Heather hopes to remind the community that people affected by addiction are not disposable. They are loved. They are mourned. They are capable of recovery. And they are part of the community.
The event will include recovery organizations, resource tables, vendors, crafts, and opportunities for families to memorialize loved ones. Attendees will be able to bring or place photos of loved ones as part of the remembrance portion of the event.
The Overtones, a band from Cullman, will perform during the event. Local partners and supporters include The Lotus House, The Recovery Den, Hydra Health and Wellness, Donnie Earley, The Sparkly Scientist Boutique, and many other local businesses and organizations.
Heather emphasizes that the walk is not something she is doing alone. Her sisters and sister-in-law are helping organize the event, making it a true family effort in honor of Lauren.
“We were very close as a family, and Lauren’s death was devastating to us all,” Heather says.
The goals of the walk are awareness, prevention, community support, and remembrance. It is a chance to honor loved ones lost, support those in recovery, stand beside those still struggling, and connect people with resources that may save lives.
Meaningful support from the community, Heather says, begins with simply showing up.
“It would be people showing up and supporting those who are recovering, as well as those who are still in active addiction,” she says. “It would mean showing that people matter and understanding that our county does have a problem with addiction and that we need to do something about it.”
Walk for Lives will be held Saturday, July 11, at Gamble Park in Jasper. The event begins at 9 a.m., the walk begins at 11 a.m., and the event is expected to continue until 1 p.m. There is no cost to attend. WL
Cover Image: Lauren’s sisters Heather and Tracey
