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Mom Shares Heartbreaking Truths About Addiction After Her Son Dies

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Addiction is a hot topic of conversation in some circles these days, and the opioid crisis seems to be a subject on the minds of many. If you and your family haven’t been touched by addiction and tragedy then consider yourself lucky – because for mothers like Amanda Poole Krueger, the monster has stolen a child.

There’s nothing she can do to bring back her baby, but Krueger hopes against hope that her experience can save another mother from the same nightmare. She wants to end the stigma, to bring the conversation into the open, and for people to understand that the disease of addiction doesn’t discriminate – it happens to good kids who had good moms and lived normal lives before trying something stupid just once or twice.

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“I want parents to know there is a tidal wave coming. This fentanyl that’s coming to our towns, and these kids aren’t just being offered marijuana at school, they’re being offered pills. It’s an opioid crisis. You hear it so much, but it’s a crisis. It’s coming. And it could be anyone and anywhere.”

Krueger sent her message through Frank Somerville, a journalist at KTVU in Oakland, California. In it, she told her son’s heartbreaking story from beginning to end, proof that there aren’t always signs and it could be anyone’s kid.

“My son was a nature lover. He wasn’t some kid who was ever in trouble. He never stole from us, he’s never spoken to me in a mean way. He was not a living on the streets heroin addict. He got a bridge toll ticket once. And I look back at my parenting and I wouldn’t have changed much. It’s just that these days its so normalized, and our teenagers are under such pressure – at school, and on social media – you do something once and you feel that reprieve and relief.”

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Her son Giancarlo had been battling his addiction for awhile, and when he died, no one was aware of his relapse.

“My son had been clean for 10 months and working for the County of Marin. He had his own apartment. We found out he was using on July 24, 2017. We sent him to a rehab that cost $45k for 45 days. Then we sent him to intensive out patient rehab for another 3 months and then a sober living house in Mill Valley for a year. He relapsed and died alone in his bed. He was the most gentle soul.”

Krueger, and others like her, are desperate to change the conversation around opioids and pills, she told Scary Mommy.

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“Kids are DYING and people are too afraid to be honest even in obituaries because of the social stigma. I don’t know what the solution is but we have to open the conversation in a big way.”

Her pain is the pain of a mother who will never see or hold her baby again, and there can’t be much worse a thing to endure.

“Please help me warn parents that this is out there. Please help me help other families. Please, please, please. It’s all I can do now.”

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Her words have been shared over 58,000 times.