'Occasional drug use killed her': Mom shares story of daughter's fatal opioid use

An accidental drug overdose took the life of Jennifer Flory's daughter, Alison, five years ago.

Flory said Alison's situation wasn't what people might think, not that it matters to Flory what anyone thinks.

"My daughter was a normal student. She was mostly happy. She never had a rock bottom or looked all strung out," Flory said.

"Occasional drug use killed her."

Flory is among those who have experienced a drug-related loss and will speak at the Ecker Center for Behavioral Health's annual Overdose Awareness Day memorial at 7 p.m. Tuesday, at the center's Renz office in Elgin. Tuesday is International Overdose Awareness Day.

Flory hopes talking about her daughter will help other families who feel there is a stigma attached to the overdose death of their loved one.

"I don't feel like I have anything to be ashamed of, because it could literally happen to anybody, and the parents who think it couldn't are living in denial," she said.

Flory, who lives in Sugar Grove, said she knew her daughter had used marijuana in high school and had tried ecstasy at parties and concerts. Flory discouraged the drug use and had her daughter tested for drugs from time to time.

"I never thought, 'Oh my God, my child's gonna be an addict and she might die.' She's just doing what everyone else is doing and it's not ideal, but she'll grow out of it," Flory said.

When Alison was 16, she broke up with her high school boyfriend. He told her he couldn't live without her and soon after killed himself. The trauma and guilt were overwhelming for Alison.

"Some friends offered her some pills to ease her pain," Flory said. The pills turned out to be Vicodin, an opioid painkiller, and benzodiazepines, a type of prescription sedative.

"I didn't know anything," Flory said. "I didn't know what an opioid was, but that's what started the addiction."

Alison stopped using drugs for a time and attended college, but stresses there would lead to her using again. In 2015, she was finally ready for real help and went to a drug-treatment center in Florida.

Treatment initially went well until Alison fell into a trap known as patient brokering, her mother said. That's where less-reputable treatment centers unethically lure patients away from their current treatment with inducements like more free time, better amenities and sometimes cash kickbacks from their insurance money. The patients go for the inducement and end up in centers with no real treatment or oversight. Alison cycled through a couple of centers.

On Oct. 14, 2016, she died in a sober home in Florida after taking cocaine laced with carfentanil, a synthetic opioid about 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times more potent than fentanyl. Her story and the subsequent prosecution of the sober home owner made national news.

"That's the tragedy of it," Jennifer Flory said. "Here's a girl who grew up in the suburbs, started using some drugs and didn't know how to stop and when she tried to get help, got sucked into this whole alternate reality (of patient brokering) that nobody knew existed."

Alison's opioid overdose was part of a continuing national trend. Fatal drug overdoses increased for the 11th consecutive year in 2020, rising nearly 30% during the pandemic. Over 70% of the more than 93,000 deaths were caused by opioid overdoses. In Illinois, nearly 3,000 residents died from an opioid-related overdose in 2020, 32% higher than in 2019.

"It's a trend that just keeps getting worse as time goes on," said Jim Brunetti, clinical director at the Ecker Center. "And it's not just people abusing and misusing opioids, but it's people dying from accidental overdoses, mostly because of fentanyl."

Brunetti said isolation and stress from the pandemic has exacerbated an already bad problem.

The Ecker Center for Mental Health merged with Renz Addiction Counseling Center last year, becoming the Ecker Center for Behavioral Health. Brunetti said the center offers an outpatient program with counseling and a medication-assisted treatment program using Suboxone, which helps eliminate drug withdrawal and cravings. The center also distributes and educates on the use of Narcan nasal spray, which can counteract the life-threatening effects of an opioid overdose.

"As bad as things are, we're doing our best to make sure we're offering help in the community," Brunetti said.

He said Tuesday's gathering is about healing.

"It's a really meaningful event for many reasons," he said. "We have people who have lost family members who come out, and it's a good chance for them to feel connected to other people who have lost somebody."

Flory and others who have experienced the loss of a loved one to overdose will speak, as well as overdose survivors who are using their experience to help others. There will also be a candlelight vigil, a reading of names of people who died of an overdose and a walk around the Serenity Path, which will be adorned with memorial signs for people who died from overdoses. Overdose reversal training and free Narcan kits will be available.

Similar events will be held Tuesday throughout the suburbs. A memorial hosted by Live4Lali and Northern Illinois Recovery Community Organization will take place at 5 p.m. at 202 S. Genesee St., Waukegan. Path to Recovery Foundation will host "Forever In Our Hearts" at 6 p.m. at the Naperville Grand Pavilion, 912 Honorary Sindt Memorial Court.

Flory encourages people not to be ashamed and to share their stories, knowing that sharing hers has led to positive change.

"Because I shared my story about Alison, a bill (Illinois HB 4949) was passed about patient brokering and targeting individuals in need of addiction services," she said.

"Now other people's lives are protected as a result," Flory said. "I know Alison would think that is really cool."