I am pleased to see that the law enforcement as well as some of politicians are becoming more involved and in recent weeks there has been several arrests. I have refrained from contacting officials regarding the matter of my son, however there are several questions I would like answered. One mystery, is the fact that when all this started becoming obvious, there was an incident that took place in Monroe county. My son was stopped by the police and him and a friend had drugs on them. Yes they had purchased it from some scumbag in Rochester. The drugs were taken, however the police did not arrest them. WHY!! Not that this would have changed the outcome, but it could have. Wade also during this time was taken to a hospital in Rochester one night, and it was suspected then that he overdosed. We as parents tried to obtain details of this hospital visit, however because of privacy laws, we were not allowed to receive any information.
We also tried to get him help with inpatient treatment, but we were told the situation was not severe enough to justify that action. The system is a joke, and some of the stuff I have seen regarding treatment is really flawed. As I stated earlier, these treatment facilities hand out suboxone like candy. All I can say regarding this, is WTF. Whoever came up with that idea, and those that supported it are in need of a reality check.
Since all this, and my original posting, I need to say I was overwhelmed with all the support and outreach, by friends, family, and yes, people we have never meet. The cards, letters, phone calls, social media outreach, and the prayers were inspirational. So many of you touched our hearts and we would not have made it through all this without the support. From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank everyone for your outreach. God Bless!
Some of you know that WGRZ contacted me and wanted me to do a interview. It was considered, but declined, as some of you know me and know that I would not hold back. In short my thoughts would not change anything. What I do know, is in less than 24 hours, almost seventeen thousand people read my post, and the awareness created by that was touching. As I stated, the outreach was incredible, and the suggestions to help raise awareness were amazing.
It was recently suggested that I start a go fund me page to help raise funds to fight the epidemic as well as use my photography to support that cause. It is being considered. One of the options suggested was to show the ugly side of this but, I think anyone who has lost someone understands the aftermath. Does anyone remember the Smoking is very Glamorous posters that used to be all around? Not important, what is relevant however is the aftermath. Kids do not realize, what they leave behind. Families are heartbroken after something like this, and they have to go on. This addiction is a selfish son of a bitch, and once it gets hold of a person, you are no longer reasoning with your child, but a demon that has taken over your child. I also want to state that some people are calling this a disease. Seriously, it is not. Perhaps it can be argued that a mental condition could cause a person to inject this crap into ones self, but knowing this crap can kill you, well that is not a disease. My opinion, if you want to refer to it as a disease, well it is a self inflicted disease then, and you have to ask why would one do that. It takes you back to the previous, which would be a mental condition. The use of these drugs lead to disease, however once again they are self inflicted.
With that opinion out there, a respected friend suggested that perhaps I should reach out to addicts and recovering addicts and see if they would want to share their story to help raise awareness of just how bad this stuff is. I will leave it like this, If someone does want to talk about their problem and share their story I would be willing to film and photograph. I am not a filmmaker but I do have some skills and some friends that would be willing to produce the content.
Once again, thanks to everyone who offered their support during our loss. We were touched by these actions and it made me realize how wonderful our community really is.
Thank you all and God Bless.
The Sargent Family
