I visited America’s most drug-plagued neighborhood and stumbled across a truly shocking scene

An exposé documentary that delves into one of America’s most drug-infested neighborhoods, featuring a man on a mission to turn the tide.

Filmmaker Peter Santenello ventured into Kensington, Philadelphia, to learn more about the opioid epidemic. In a film documenting his journey, he is seen touring with local resident Buddy Osborn.

After being raised by a single mother from the neighborhood and having eight siblings, three of whom died from drug problems, Buddy now runs a community center and chapel called The Rock.

As Peter and Buddy walk through the streets littered with trash, they see many people lying on the ground in a comatose state. At one point, they see a small shrine marking the spot where someone has died.

In 2022, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health recorded 1,413 unintentional overdose deaths.

A report from the city of Philadelphia found that most overdose deaths in the metro area (57 percent) involved both an opioid like fentanyl and a stimulant like cocaine.

Xylazine, a veterinary anesthetic and painkiller also known as “tranq,” was found in 34 percent of all overdose deaths.

As Peter walks the streets of Kensington, Buddy confirms that fentanyl and narcotics are major problems these days.

He describes how drug use in the region has changed over the years: ‘In the 1970s there was meth, and in the 1980s came cocaine, and then came heroin.’

Buddy says he remembers seeing a man on the street shooting up heroin as a little kid in the early 1970s with a belt around his arm as a tourniquet.

Five of the children who witnessed the incident also became addicted to heroin themselves.

One of them was his brother, who was 12 years old at the time. He died as a result of drug use.

Buddy tells a remarkable fact: ‘That’s the average age, they say, that a heroin addiction starts: 12.

‘Eventually he died… as a result of [heroin]. I have lost three brothers and one sister due to complications from drugs from this region.’

In a shocking scene, the two men come across a young girl who has apparently been abandoned on the street.

She is seen sitting on a camping chair with a homeless man by her side. The girl explains that her mother left her while she was “going to the adult store,” and that she walked down the street a few minutes ago.

As Buddy and Peter grow more and more worried, the girl’s mother reappears.

The woman explains that her daughter will be six next week and that the man she left her with is someone she knows.

The woman tells how she ended up on the street with her child: ‘We’re from Boston and… I was going back and forth.

‘I first came to Philly last year. I became homeless in Jersey.

“My truck was stolen with my driver’s license, birth certificate, social security cards. I’m just trying to get those things back.”

Buddy offers the woman help and tells her that if she needs it, she can go to the chapel for food and shelter.

Peter turns the camera on himself and takes a moment to thank Buddy for his time.

He tells viewers: ‘Buddy has been amazing in handling that situation for all of us.

‘He knows the area quite well, of course, but there are certainly dangerous elements here.

‘And I strongly recommend that no one just come here and walk around.

I mean, most people are just drug addicts and need help.

“That’s the story. But there are people who smuggle drugs and commit crime, and those are the situations you want to stay away from.

“And we’ve done a good job of showing you the story so far today.”

According to Buddy, the biggest problem in Kensington is that homeless people are allowed to take over the streets.

But he offers a glimmer of hope by saying that Philadelphia’s current mayor, Cherelle Parker, has made some changes and that “it was worse.”

He concludes: ‘She sees the problem and she comes up with a solution.

‘The solution is that if the mayor does her job, the prosecutor does his job, the police chief is allowed to do his job, the police can do their job.

“Let’s do our work and work together, then we’ll join forces and help people.”

To date, Peter’s film has been viewed over 3.5 million times, with many viewers raving about Buddy’s work and sharing their own stories of drug addiction.

One commenter wrote: ‘Buddy is an angel. He could have moved away after the tragic loss of his siblings, but he decided to stay and help people.

“I am moved by his work. Thank you for showing us around.”

Another viewer shared their moving story, writing, “I lived on the streets for 25 years. By the grace of God, I’ve been clean for almost six years. I work at the rehab clinic that saved my life. We are recovering.”