In the early afternoon of September 6, 2015 my 26-year-old brother Bradley Edwin Gass got high for the last time. That evening he died in his sleep of accidental overdose. My brother started using drugs initially in 2008 as a result of our father's death. He used drugs to avoid dealing with and coping with his death. He tried to get clean many times but he would always come back to drugs. He stole from family and friends to fund his habit and also sold drugs just to support his addiction. My brother had been clean for 2 years and in August he relapsed and by the beginning of September this disease took him from us. We don't know why he relapsed. We don't know everything he did in those weeks he began using again but all we know is Brad turned into a drug user again and he slipped from this world and into heaven.
This is my brother, he doesn't look like an addict does he? Addiction doesn't discriminate.
I am now referred to in public as "that girl whose brother died of an overdose." Yes, my brother died of an overdose but that's not who I am. I am the one left behind. Everyday about 120 people die as the result of an overdose, that means roughly 44,000 people die a year from drug use. Everyday about 120 families lose a son or daughter, a brother or sister, a mom or a dad, a grandmother or grandfather, an aunt or an uncle. These families are left behind with a hole in their heart that will never be filled. They are left behind with a lot of what ifs. Some of the what ifs that run through my mind are "what if I had asked them to hang out with me that day instead of me going to work, would Brad have died?" "What if I had told Brad how much I loved him and how much he meant to me that morning, would he still be here?" "What if I had been home when he was overdosing, could I have saved him? I am an EMT."
When anyone dies it is a heartbreak, but when someone you know and love dies of something that could have been avoided it's even harder to cope. Globally, around 190,000 people lose their lives because of addiction. This has become an epidemic that needs more awareness! August 31st is International Overdose Awareness Day. Visit http://www.overdoseday.com/ to find out how you can help.
