South Florida mothers remember children lost to overdose on International Overdose Awareness Day
FORT LAUDERDALE -- Last year, 107,543 Americans died from overdoses, reported the Centers for Disease Control.
Of those deaths, more than 74,000 of those deaths were from synthetic opioids.
In the state of Florida alone, more than 7,500 people died from overdoses in 2022, according to the CDC.
While the number of overdose deaths in our country slightly declined from 2022 to 2023, it remains an epidemic in our country.
Navigating life with addicted children
Kim Bouchard-Whitaker and Janice Schneider have been friends since they were 12 years old, a friendship that's spanned more than five decades.
They have many things in common — but the pivotal thing is the stories of their sons, Tommy and Max.
"The kindest, sweetest, nicest human being you would ever want to meet in your life, and that's the way you can describe Tommy," said Bouchard-Whitaker.
"Max was a big kid, he was always a big kid. He was, you know, 6'3, and he was very handsome. He, I think, always felt things very deeply," said Schneider.
The thing that's brought these lifelong friends even closer is their shared struggle of navigating a life of addiction with their sons.
Both Tommy and Max started experimenting with drugs in their teens following injuries that prevented them from playing the sports they loved.
Eventually, they would go down a road they couldn't turn back from.
"He would relapse, and overdose, and go into rehab and be okay for a little while and then the cycle would start again," said Schneider.
"As hard as his addiction was on us, it was harder on him, because he hated breaking our hearts," said Bouchard-Whitaker.
After more than a decade of battling their addictions, Tommy and Max died within months of each other in 2020, both from fatal fentanyl overdoses.
"You do feel like a bit of a failure as a mother," said Bouchard-Whitaker.
Losing the struggle and the stigma
Like Kim and Janice, Chico Ficerai also knows the pain of losing a child to overdose.
Her son, Joseph "Seppe" Ficerai, struggled with addiction for most of his life, eventually getting clean for four years and working in recovery to help others.
He too died in 2020, from a fatal heroin overdose, leaving behind two children.
"We do often want it so much more than they do and we talked to him we pleaded with him, we begged him. After rehab, we realized, okay - he's gone to rehab, he must be fixed. Well, that isn't the story," said Ficerai.
And the mothers of Tommy, Max and Seppe say while they miss their sons every single day, they will make it the mission of their lives to speak their names and to end the stigma that comes with addiction.
"People downplay addiction as if it's a choice. Oh, it's his choice, they want to continue on, let them, it's not. It's a very serious disease and we can be of help to these people. Our son's legacy is that you live on in a very positive way. His addiction did not, does not, will not, define him," said Ficerai.
If you or someone you know if struggling with addiction, you can reach out to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's 24/7 hotline at 1-800-662-4357.
For more information about addiction, head to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Recovery Resources.
