Man who helped save life of overdose victim sparks program offering free naloxone at West Side gas stations

The first of 2,000 donated naloxone doses appeared on the shelf of a West Side gas station where Matthew McFarland revived a man who overdosed in the parking lot in July.

McFarland, 51, and officials including representatives from the Cook County sheriff’s office announced the life-saving project Wednesday outside the Amoco Gas Station, 4402 W. Roosevelt Rd., where 50 doses were available at no cost.

“What this particular initiative does is it helps us to save lives,” Cook County Commissioner Dennis Deer told reporters.

The doses will first be distributed throughout the 2nd District before gradually becoming available throughout Cook County.

Additional doses are being distributed between now and the new year at gas stations in neighborhoods on the city’s West Side including North Lawndale, South Lawndale, West Garfield Park and Austin. Each of the participating gas stations will start with 50 units available for free and with no questions asked.

Naloxone, also known by the brand names Narcan and Zimhi, is intended for immediate use in the event of a known or suspected overdose. Zimhi is an injection while Narcan is often administered via nasal spray.

McFarland, who always carries naloxone, didn’t think twice about saving the man in July. It took “three plugs of naloxone to revive them, and it was close,” McFarland said at an earlier press briefing.

After seeing a TV news report showing McFarland saving the man, U.S. WorldMeds — a Kentucky pharmaceutical company — contacted McFarland to donate 2,000 naloxone devices. McFarland then directed the donation to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office.

McFarland, who is from south suburban Lynwood and currently resides in Dyer, Indiana, is a recovering addict who spent years in and out of the criminal justice system. He just celebrated being eight years sober on Dec. 9 and is now the vice president of procedural justice and residential workforce development at the Lawndale Christian Legal Center.

“Having this product right here in a hyper-local area of the community is critical for people to be able to access it,” McFarland said.

“We’re going to make this product available for free at no cost to the taxpayers in these hot zones where people can come in, ask for the product, no questions asked and receive a box of Zimhi,” McFarland said.

McFarland emphasized the importance of staff being trained to administer Zimhi so they can intervene in case someone overdoses at the gas station or show anyone seeking the dose how to properly use it.

Staff at Amoco Gas Station told the Sun-Times training by using the steps below took them “about two minutes.”

• Press the needle into the outer thigh after twisting off the needle cap.
• Push the plunger until it clicks to inject and hold for two seconds before removing the needle.
• Pull the safety guard over the needle using one hand with fingers behind the needle.
• Place the syringe back into the blue case and close it and call 911.

Gas stations who want to carry Zimhi can call the Cook County Sheriff’s Office Treatment Response Team at 309-463-4357.

As of Dec. 18, there have been 1,478 opioid-related deaths this year, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. That’s about a 20% decrease compared to 1,917 deaths at this time last year.

Two thousand people died of opioid overdoses in 2022 in Cook County, the highest number of such deaths in the last seven years, according to data from the Illinois Department of Public Health. The deaths more than doubled Cook County homicides and more than tripled motor vehicle-related deaths.

In 2022, there were 630 opioid-related overdoses in the 60624 ZIP code, where Amoco gas station is located, according to the department of public health. A ZIP code in the Austin neighborhood also recorded 630 overdoses last year, and areas in Humboldt Park, South Lawndale and the Near West Side each recorded over 550 overdoses.

In March, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved selling the overdose antidote drug naloxone over the counter, putting it on course to be the first opioid treatment sold without a prescription.