WORCESTER, Mass. – Dozens of people gathered at UMass Memorial in Worcester Thursday for an International Overdose Awareness Day event remembering lives lost to drug overdoses in 2022.

Purple flags, 2,357 of them, were placed on the hospital’s grounds to represent the number of people in Massachusetts who lost their lives last year. Data from the state's Department of Public Health shows opioid-related overdose deaths are rising, with a 2.5% increase last year.

Speakers at Thursday’s memorial emphasized the void these deaths leave on loved ones, friends and the community.

“This is not a moral issue, okay?” said Amy Nichols, a certified peer specialist and addiction recovery coach. “This is every single person we've lost this year and every year prior. They're good people. They’re sons and daughters and mothers and fathers and husbands and wives.”

“Addiction hits everyone,” said New England Patriots Foundation president Josh Kraft. “Doesn't matter how much money is in your bank account, what degrees you have on your wall, whether it's a G.E.D. or a Ph.D., the color of your skin. And today is another day that we're all taking to stop opioid overdoses, to make sure there's never any more flags out here. and August 31st just becomes August 31st.”

Worcester experienced a 33% increase in opioid-related overdose deaths last year, according to UMass Memorial Health. In all, 140 people died in 2022, compared to 105 in 2021.