National Recovery Month Celebration
Massachusetts State House
Melissa Weiksnar
September 26, 2013
Four years ago, I was the proud mother of a junior in the nursing program at Boston College. These were her sweatpants, her favorite necklace, and her high school ring.
But a few weeks later, my daughter Amy admitted that she was a heroin addict, wanted to go to treatment, and would not be able to finish the semester. On December 8th, she wrote in her rehab journal:
I feel like the drugs have taken over my soul. What happened to the strong, motivated young woman I was last spring? The impending doom sets in as I realize my disease has never been this bad. ... I stand today as heroin's puppet, feeling as if every fiber in my being is dull, responding only to the stimulation of potential drug use. ... I wonder what I can possibly do to break free from it's [sic] grasp and remember the life I used to love and show up for.The day after Christmas, 2009, Any overdosed at her residential treatment facility. She was found by her best friend from rehab -- a little girl, petite and still in her teens. The facility did not have Narcan.
When the First Responders arrived, they administered nasal, then IV Narcan. But it was too late. Amy was pronounced dead less than two hours later, weeks shy of her 21st birthday.
Today, that little girl is almost four years into her recovery, and teaching. She has been trained in Narcan and carries it everywhere. She can fully be a Good Samaritan.
And I thank every one of you for every step you have taken to promulgate Narcan. We know that we cannot control someone's use of drugs. But with Narcan we have the power to reverse an overdose and give someone another shot at recovery.
Because until this devastating epidemic is over, our would-be-nurse Amy would want nothing less for those suffering from the disease of opiate addiction.