The family of a young man who died from an overdose wants to get people talking about addiction to help save lives.
Archie Badura died three years ago after overdosing on heroin. Since his death, his family has held an annual event called "Jump for Archie."
This year's event got some added attention with attendees like Attorney General Brad Schimel and Senator Ron Johnson.
When Badura died, his friends and family jumped into the water fully clothed after his memorial service. That started a tradition that grew into the annual event.
The 50-degree temperatures this year didn't stop dozens of people from jumping into Lac la Belle in Oconomowoc.
"We want to let people know, not hide it but do something," said Augie Badura, Archie's younger brother.
Augie was just 17-years-old when his brother overdosed on heroin, after getting caught up on drugs following high school.
"What got ahold of him was the prescription drugs and I think that really took him down," said Augie.
Last year Waukesha County became involved in the "Jump for Archie" event and now it's part of a larger effort to fight drug addiction in the community.
"This is a huge epidemic, it's killing people," said Christine Howard, a member of the Waukesha County Board of Supervisors.
She knows what this epidemic can do first hand, after losing her brother and nephew to drug addiction.
"There wasn't a whole lot back [then] for help, especially in the 70s with my brother," she said. "We tried so hard, there was nothing. This is just so exciting that there's so much out there now to help people."
In 2015, 873 people in Wisconsin died from a drug related death. That's up from 795 the year before.
Waukesha County recently received a five-year, $1.12 million grant to provide follow up care to overdose patients and conduct Narcan training in the community. Narcan is something that can reverse the effects of an overdose.
Starting on June 1, the county will provide monthly Narcan training sessions at the Waukesha Alamo Club. They will continue on the first Thursday of each month.
Augie says he thinks Archie would be proud of everything they've done in his name.
"The more we talk about it, I think the more powerful and the bigger impact it's going to have on each other," he said.
More information about the Jump for Archie event and his family's foundation set up in Archie's honor can be found on their Facebook page.
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