09/02/18 — 'My son's life mattered:' Mother speaks out about opioid addiction

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'My son's life mattered:' Mother speaks out about opioid addiction

By Sierra Henry
Published in News on September 2, 2018 3:05 AM

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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO

The shoes of Wayland Dean Hoggard, who lost his life to an overdose in December when he was 22, sit among the pairs Friday belonging to only a few of the Wayne County residents who have lost their lives because of a drug overdose.

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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO

D.J. Coles walks one of Friday's speakers, Melanie M., down the front steps of Goldsboro City Hall after she shared the story of her addiction during the International Overdose Awareness Day event.

Sherry Crocker remembers her son Wayland Hoggard as an all-American boy.

He loved to hunt, fish and ride his motorcycles and four-wheelers, anything having to do outdoors. He always made people laugh and enjoyed joking around.

"He was my happy-go-lucky boy," Crocker said. "He loved his momma, his daddy and his grandmamma ... We were just a normal family."

Hoggard, who died on Dec. 21, is just one of the many victims of unintentional opioid overdose in Wayne County.

Crocker said she felt as though she needed to get involved and spread awareness about opioid addiction after the death of her son. That's when she met with folks from the Coalition for Addiction and Life Management, who asked her to speak at their Opioid Awareness Day event Friday morning.

Crocker recounted to the crowd gathered on the steps of Goldsboro City Hall for the awareness event her son's harrowing addiction and the fight against opioids the family was up against.

"I didn't think I'd be able to (speak about it), but I did it for my son." Crocker said. "He mattered. He has no voice anymore -- he didn't want this.

"He had no idea what he was getting into. Once he got there, he was lost."

She added, "I want to do whatever I can to help with this horrible situation that the whole country is in. My son's life mattered."

Desperate to save her son, Crocker said she tried everything to help him fight his addiction, even going as far as sending him to jail and rehabilitation.

"I was desperate," Crocker said. "What's so hard about this is when they're an adult, you don't have any control over what they do. When that drug is in their head, they can't think right. So, you have to think for them, you have to be the force and do whatever you can to save them.

"As long as I live, I'll never feel like I did that day."

D.J. Coles, vice chairman for CALM, said that he was impressed with the turnout for the event and is looking forward to working on more projects for the coalition.

"I was actually overwhelmed at how beautiful and well attended it was," Coles said. "It's a positive overwhelming; it was emotional.

"To be such a young organization but with such a large epidemic, it's amazing to see the community turn out and stories that I'll personally never forget.

"I have a son and a daughter," he said, "and as I saw that momma's heart break for her son, it reminded me of my son. So that means I'm going to fight even harder for our families' children and for our families as a whole."

David Pittman, CALM chairman, said that the organization is working to use the $150,000 grant it recently was awarded by the Wayne County Health Department to develop strategies as part of the North Carolina Opioid Action Plan. The grant is one of the first plans of action that came from the formation of CALM.

"We have that in now, we're about at the stage where the money is going to be coming in for us to actually do something," Pittman said.

The money from the grant will be used to create post-overdose response teams with a team coordinator and peer support specialists.

"PORT teams that will be going (into the community) when an overdose has been identified, this is going to give direct support," Coles said. "(PORT teams) will be in these people's lives and putting together goal plans to overcome this addiction, because it's going to take a team."

Pittman and Coles both said one of the main goals for the coalition and for the PORT teams is to build trust between them and those who are victims of substance abuse.

"The thing to know about addiction and recovery is that it's not going to stick the first time, but it's about knowing that there's someone there, and it's also about building that trust," Pittman said.

"We're still young, we're still new, but we're getting organized for that exact purpose."

For anyone interested in getting involved, CALM meets on the last Tuesday of every month at Wayne Community College in the Walnut building room 101.