The Sept. 24 event is designed to equip everyday residents with the knowledge and tools to respond when an overdose happens.
A headache. Cramps. A long night of studying.
None of those sound like situations that should end in tragedy. Yet an everyday moment can become dangerous when a pill comes from somewhere other than a pharmacy bottle or prescription meant specifically for the person taking it.
It is part of the warning Jeremy Bradford wishes he had known to give his son.
Bradford, co-founder and vice president of operations for 2 Out Rally Foundation, lost his 19-year-old son, Alex, in March 2022. Alex was a sophomore at the University of North Carolina Wilmington when, Bradford said, he bought what he believed was a Percocet pill from a classmate. The pill contained fentanyl.
“Alex had a bad day, and Alex made a bad decision. Because he didn’t know,” Bradford said.
Bradford did not know either.
As a parent, he believed he had covered the dangers he was supposed to cover. What he had not known to warn Alex about was a drug landscape where pills purchased online or accepted from someone else could be counterfeit and contain fentanyl.
That missing knowledge is now part of the message 2 Out Rally carries into schools, communities and events across the country.
Alex’s story is also not an isolated one.
Through its work, 2 Out Rally connected with SONG for Charlie, a national nonprofit founded by another family navigating a heartbreak strikingly similar to their own. Bradford said Charlie Ternan, a 20-year-old college student, had previously been given Percocet. Later, he purchased what he believed was the same medication online.
It was not what he thought it was. The pill contained fentanyl, and Charlie’s family lost him too.
“Our stories are very much aligned,” Bradford said.
The similarities between Alex’s and Charlie’s stories are part of what brought the two families and organizations together. Both young men believed they knew what they were taking. Both families later turned those losses into education aimed at helping other young people and parents know what their sons did not.
That shared work now supports a broader push for awareness, access to naloxone and practical overdose-response training.
On Sept. 24, 2 Out Rally will bring that work home through Harnett County Save a Life Day from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Anderson Creek Shopping Center at 3274 Ray Rd. in Spring Lake.
The event will offer free naloxone, hands-on overdose-response training and other community health resources. Bradford expects to have more than 100 and potentially close to 150 naloxone kits available to distribute.
But the foundation’s message begins before naloxone is ever needed.
“Our biggest takeaway is no random pills,” Bradford said.
For 2 Out Rally, that means not taking pills obtained from friends, classmates, relatives or other unofficial sources simply because someone says they know what is in them.
It is a warning that may not immediately register as a drug-prevention conversation.
A teenager with a headache may not consider accepting a loose pill from a friend the same thing as intentionally seeking out drugs. A college student struggling to stay awake while studying may believe a pill handed over by someone they know is exactly what they were told it is.
Bradford wants families to understand that the source matters.
“If it doesn’t come from a doctor with your name on this prescription … in today’s environment, you cannot trust,” he said.
Save a Life Day takes that education one step further by preparing people for what to do when an opioid overdose is already happening.
Bradford said anyone receiving naloxone at the event will also receive training on how to recognize signs of an opioid overdose and administer the nasal spray. The demonstration generally takes only a few minutes, with additional time for questions.
He compares carrying naloxone to having access to a fire extinguisher or an automated external defibrillator. People do not keep those tools nearby because they expect an emergency. They have them because one may happen around them.
The same idea applies to naloxone.
Much like learning CPR, knowing how to recognize an overdose and administer naloxone is not only about protecting yourself. It is about being prepared to help a friend, family member or even a stranger when seconds matter.
A person does not have to use drugs or have a family member struggling with substance use to someday be in a position to help someone experiencing an overdose.
Harnett County Save a Life Day also reaches beyond overdose prevention. Bradford said this year’s event is designed to bring additional community resources together in one place, including health information, HIV-related resources and information about upcoming blood drives. The local event grew from the broader Save a Life Day movement Bradford learned about through SOAR West Virginia.
For Bradford, success would look a lot like empty boxes.
He said he would be happy to distribute every naloxone kit 2 Out Rally brings to the event — and then find more for anyone still asking.
“That’s a huge win, because naloxone is not saving lives sitting on a shelf somewhere,” Bradford said.
“Get it out into the hands of the people.”
For more information about the 2 Out Rally Foundation, visit https://www.2outrallyfoundation.org/

(2 Out Rally's previous Save A Life Day handed out free naloxone, and teaches attendees about the dangers of fentanyl. Jeremy Bradford, the founder of 2 Out Rally, lost his son to fentanyl, and works to educate the community. Photo courtesy of 2 Out Rally's Facebook page)