Real Stories

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  Ann Marie's StoryAnn Marie is a mother who lost her 22-year-old son, Chris, to a prescription opioid overdose.
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  Brenda's StoryBrenda shares her experiences with addiction to prescription opioids and the toll pain medication took on her life.
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  Cortney's StoryCortney shares how the support of recovery programs and counselors were vital in her journey to recovery from opioid addiction.
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  Devin's StoryDevin shares his Rx Awareness story of using prescription opioids after a minor surgery as a teenager and his path to recovery from opioid use disorder.
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  Judy's StoryJudy lost her son, Steve, to a prescription opioid overdose. Before he died, he wrote, “At first it was a lifeline, now it is a noose around my neck.”
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  Katie's StoryKatie shares her experience of growing up with a mother struggling with opioid addiction, and learning that it is a disease that deserves treatment and understanding.
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  Mike's StoryMike became addicted to a prescription opioid and ended up leaving school and no longer playing college sports. At the time he “didn’t understand the dangers of the drug and was addicted after a matter of months.”
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  Noah's StoryNoah shares his experience losing his father to prescription opioid addiction. He states that he learned “it’s likely that everybody knows somebody who’s struggling with this very problem.”
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  Tamera's StoryTamera shares her experience losing almost everything she had to prescription opioid addiction. She says that knowing it “could have been prevented” makes her experience seem so much worse. Tamera reminds us that it “only takes one.”
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  Teresa's StoryTeresa lost her brother RJ at age 32 to a prescription opioid overdose. He convinced people to “believe he knew exactly what he was taking.”

• About the campaign
• Prevent Prescription Opioid Overdose
• Treatment and Recovery
• Campaign Resources
• Newsroom

Learn more about opioid misuse and overdose, data, and prevention resources at CDC’s Opioid Overdose website.