Alex Sutton died of a heroin/fentanyl overdose on April 8, 2018. That year he was one of nearly 600 people on Long Island whose death was caused by a fatal overdose. So far in 2023, in Suffolk County, there have been more than 150 deaths from opioids, the majority (135) from fentanyl.

Alex’s mother, Carole Trottere, is hosting an event on Sunday, October 29, at her son’s favorite pizza place, Station Pizza, located at 1099 N. Country Road in Stony Brook to mark what would have been his 36^th birthday. The event, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., will offer a FREE slice of pizza and a drink when customers take a five-minute Narcan training conducted by the Suffolk County Police Department. Trottere hopes this will help raise awareness of the fentanyl epidemic and help save lives.

“Every death from overdose affects so many people…parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, and colleagues. It’s like a spider web of grief for those left behind,” she said. “Fentanyl is the deadliest drug to ever hit the streets and is responsible for nearly 70% of nationwide drug deaths. On Alex’s birthday, people can learn how to save a life with Narcan and eat for free.”

Trottere will also have memorial rocks available for anyone who has lost a loved one to overdose and wishes to write a name on a rock.  Called the Purple Rock Project, the finished rocks are placed around parks and other locations, including Gabriel's Giving Tree Memorial & Recovery Garden at Suffolk County Environmental Center at the Scully Estate, 550 South Bay Avenue in Islip, as a reminder of how many Long Islanders have died from O.D. and fentanyl poisonings.