Grieving mother uses her 22-year-old son’s obituary to warn against the dangers of fentanyl
‘All it took was one single pill’: Grieving mom whose son, 22, died of a fentanyl overdose uses heart-rending obituary for her ‘kind, funny, loyal’ child to warn about the dangers of drug epidemic
Hunter Lee Clemons had just turned 22 when he died on February 10, 2022, after taking a pill laced with fentanyl while getting ready for work His mother, Christy Couvillier, described him as ‘charismatic’ with a ‘heart of gold’ in his obituaryShe said drugs offered him ‘an escape from his demons’ and he’d been to rehab after a 2019 overdose Couvillier, from Louisiana, wants to ‘speak the truth about his death’ so that she might educate others about the drug epidemic in the USShe stressed that her son wasn’t an IV drug user and took just one pill from someone he trusted, but it was laced with dangerous fentanylFentanyl is is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and mimics the effects of heroin, and illegally-made fentanyl has been used to lace other street drugs
<!–
<!–
<!–<!–
<!–
(function (src, d, tag){
var s = d.createElement(tag), prev = d.getElementsByTagName(tag)[0];
s.src = src;
prev.parentNode.insertBefore(s, prev);
}(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/1.17.0/async_bundle–.js”, document, “script”));
<!–
DM.loadCSS(“https://www.dailymail.co.uk/static/gunther/gunther-2159/video_bundle–.css”);
<!–
A bereaved mother has written a heart-wrenching tribute to her son, who died last month of a drug overdose — and has used his obituary to spread awareness about the dangers of addiction.
Hunter Lee Clemons had just turned 22 when he died on February 10, 2022, after taking a pain pill laced with fentanyl while getting ready for work in Jacksonville, Florida.
His mother, Christy Couvillier, describes him as ‘kind, funny, charismatic, selfless, [and] loyal’ — but says that drugs offered him ‘an escape from his demons.’
In an honest and emotional obituary, Couvillier said that she and the rest of her son’s family want to ‘speak the truth about his death’ so that it wasn’t in vain — and that they might educate others about the drug epidemic in the US.
Hunter Lee Clemons had just turned 22 when he died on February 10, 2022, after taking a pain pill laced with fentanyl while getting ready for work
His mother, Christy Couvillier, described him as ‘charismatic’ with a ‘heart of gold’ in his obituary
She said drugs offered him ‘an escape from his demons’ and he’d been to rehab after a 2019 overdose
‘Hunter had a heart of gold; anyone from his childhood or adult life could confirm,’ Couvillier wrote in the obit.
‘He was kind, funny, charismatic, selfless, loyal, and always tried to find the positive in any situation.
‘In turn, doing his best to block out the negatives, which is where his addiction came into play. Drugs offered Hunter an escape from his demons he faced throughout his life.’
While living in Lafayette, Louisiana, Clemons began struggling with addiction — and on July 23, 2019, at age 19, he overdosed after taking heroin laced with fentanyl.
Clemons spent four days on life support at the time and entered rehab when he got out of the hospital. After completing a rehab program, he moved to Florida, where he was born.
‘Hunter had a heart of gold; anyone from his childhood or adult life could confirm,’ Couvillier wrote in his obit
While living in Lafayette, Louisiana, Clemons began struggling with addiction – and on July 23, 2019, at age 19, he overdosed after taking heroin laced with fentanyl
Clemons spent four days on life support and entered rehab when he got out of the hospital. After completing a rehab program, he moved to Florida (pictured with his mother and sister)
Clemons (pictured with his brother) began using again at some point and took a single pill one morning before work
‘He thrived after moving to Florida,’ Couvillier wrote. ‘He started a job as a valve tech at Flotech, Inc. and went fishing every chance he got. He loved spending his days outside on the water or with his roommates.’
But Couvillier told KLFY that at some point, he started to use again, unbeknownst to her.
The morning of his death, he took a pill while getting ready for work. He soon felt unwell, and went to sleep face-down in his bed.
He never woke up, and his roommate found him hours later.
‘His family would like to speak the truth about his death,’ Couvillier wrote. ‘Silence would mean Hunter’s death was in vain, but if one person’s life is saved by his story, we would tell it a million more times.
‘We know the pain of his suffering. We know the pain of our own suffering as his family, and we know there are hundreds of other people here in our community suffering as addicts or as loved ones to them.’
Couvillier, from Louisiana, wants to ‘speak the truth about his death’ so that she might educate others about the drug epidemic in the US
She stressed that her son wasn’t an IV drug user and took just one pill from someone he trusted, but it was laced with dangerous fentanyl
‘It can happen to anyone, not just everyday users. Nobody is exempt from fentanyl,’ Couvillier said
Couvillier noted that addiction is an epidemic in the US, and she hopes that reading about her son’s death can help save others.
‘Speaking the truths (no matter the circumstances) surrounding the epidemic of drug use may be the difference between life and death for someone,’ she wrote.
‘In honor of Hunter’s life, we ask that truth be spread in regards to this epidemic and awareness be raised.’
Speaking to DailyMail.com, Couvillier stressed that her son took just one pill, having no idea that it was laced with fentanyl — and that a similar fate could befall anyone.
‘I want it to be known that my son didn’t die from heroin or IV drug use,’ she said.
‘He took one pill that was laced with fentanyl. He took this pill from someone he trusted. All it took was one single pill.
‘It can happen to anyone, not just everyday users. Nobody is exempt from fentanyl.’
Fentanyl is is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and mimics the effects of heroin, and illegally-made fentanyl has been used to lace other street drugs
According to the CDC, 93,000 people died of a drug overdose in the US in 2020. That’s up from 70,630 in 2019, when 70.6% of all drug overdose deaths were due to opioids.
Opioids, and synthetic opioids in particular, are the main driver of overdose, involved in 72.9% of opioid deaths.
Opioids were involved in 49,860 overdose deaths in 2019 (70.6 per cent of all drug overdose deaths).
Fentanyl, which is used by prescription to treat severe pain, is is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and mimics the effects of heroin.
However, most deaths related to fentanyl are due to illegally-made fentanyl. It can end up in black market pills that look like Oxycontin, Vicodin, Xanax, or Adderall.
