You Must Dial 911 in Addition to Using Narcan

This is a letter from a Mother that has been in touch with  Confidential Recover CEO  Scott H. Silverman:

My name is Denise. I first saw you on KUSI several years ago when you introduced yourself as a recovering addict who wanted to help others struggling with drug-related addictions. I was deeply moved by your commitment as well as your compassion for others struggling, especially when you shared your personal contact information like your cell number.

Last year, my husband reached out to you about our son. We were so worried about him—we knew he was smoking marijuana, but we weren’t certain about what other drugs he might have been using after he left our home as an adult. Unfortunately, he didn’t want to follow our house rules.

The fear of barely hearing from him or where he was staying kept us awake many a nights. It sure made our prayers become all the hope we had for his safety and well being for sure. When my husband made the call to you last year we remember your advice clearly: "Just get him home." He finally asked to come back home in April, and was  studying to get his real estate license working and re-enrolled in college taking a business class again.

My husband and I were so very relieved to have him with us again up until November. Sadly, he left again because he didn’t want to abide by our rules. Only three short months later, we received a call from the medical examiner's office—our son was gone. That day, our hearts were completely shattered. My husband, daughter, and I have been struggling to cope with the immense grief and the gaping hole in our lives. It still doesn’t feel real.

My son actually came home mid January to get more of his clothes and he hugged me and said he loved me. Less than 2 weeks before his passing I was talking to him on the phone planning a lunch date. About a week before we received that fateful call we were texting and talked to each other. Which I am so thankful for. Truth is

in the midst of all this pain, I feel a strong urge to help others who might be on a similar path, especially young people.

The drugs out there today are poison, and their potency is lethal. I’m reaching out to you now because I want to bring attention to the accessible and widespread distribution of Narcan. While well-intentioned as a life-saving measure, I believe it can give a false sense of security—if not used properly. Sadly, I know this all so well from losing my son for not calling 911  after administering Narcan to him.

The details around my son’s passing and last moments are harrowing as irresponsible, reckless people who I assume were high with him did not care or follow the instructions. As ina result, their negligence took my son’s life.

No one called 911 when my son overdosed, even though the instructions on the Narcan spray clearly say to do so. 

The detective from the DEA told us that in many cases where 911 isn’t called, it’s because everyone involved are high and afraid of getting arrested. Focusing on their own concerns, they also naively think everything will be fine with just the spray. But my son might still be here if someone had made that call. Most importantly,

I want to raise awareness that Narcan alone isn’t enough—911 must be called. 

It can be the difference between life and death. I would love the opportunity to share this message on your broadcast, to help others as you have. As a mother whose heart is broken, I feel a deep need to prevent other families from going through the same pain. My goal is to help educate and inform others who may find themselves in this similar life or death predicament.

I DO NOT want my son Cameron being just another statistic. He came from such a loving Christian  home who meant everything to us. A real dream come true. I feel very blessed to have shared 23 years of my life with such an incredible fun loving, intelligent, compassionate, athletic, talented son who I am very proud to be called his mom.

- Denise