I hope this video of Aaron Emery helps those of us who love him to never be silent anymore. Currently Heroin/Drug Abuse is known nation wide as the Quiet Epidemic. Heroin continues to sweep across our communities, infiltrating our schools and robbing lives at an alarming rate. Heroin use in the United States is a growing problem.
In 2014, it was found that 900,000 adults and young adults ages 12 and older used heroin in the past year, 586,000 of those individuals suffered from a heroin use disorder.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that the average annual rates of past-year heroin use during 2011-2013 had increased 62.5% since 2002-2004. The statistics has since quadrupled in 2016.
The growth in estimated prevalence has been driven in large part from increased heroin use among young adults ages 18 to 25.
Many individuals are first drawn to heroin in search of the pleasant euphoria the drug seems to promise. I ask you, how much will that momentary and fleeting pleasure cost you? It cost my son his life two years ago today.
I truly hope this video becomes a reality check for those of you who continue to make poor choices using drugs. I hope you find some sense before you find your life unexpectly cut short as is the case with Aaron. I miss him more with each passing day and although I now live with a constant ache and a deep hole in my heart his death has left, I refuse to fall prey to depression and anger. I am determined to be an advocate for awareness and use my voice to help other families who find themselves with a loved one journeying this dark path. I pray his death will continue to not be in vain. One of his friends has turned his life around and lives a drug free life, while helping others break free from this stronghold. I am very proud of him.
If this video awakes some of you to live healthier by quit using drugs and seek help, then I will have done right by sharing Aaron’s personal tragedy with the world today. The aftermath of his untimely death is real, it is painful and has left for us who love him a daily struggle to move forward with only the memories we made during his all to short of life. We find comfort in knowing we will see him again one day.
I want to close today by encouraging any family out there around the world, who finds themselves with a loved one addicted to drugs to never be ashamed to seek advice, or to never allow yourself to quietly be held captive by guilt, or manipulation. Reach out and talk to others or myself. The sleepless nights of worrying about how to get your loved one help is nothing compared to the sleepless nights once you have to bury them. It is my hope no one has to bury their son or daughter from such a senseless tragedy. Until we ban together and speak up and share the rawness of this quiet epidemic the odds are against you. I can be reached by email at reneeemery15@yahoo.com
With love,
Renee Emery
” There is no tragedy in life like the death of a child. Things never get back to the way they were.” ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower
Renee Emery Signature Series 