Kathrine’s Story

Our eldest daughter Kathrine died from an accidental opioid overdose on August 7^th, 2015, exactly three months to the day before what should have been her twentieth birthday.

At eighteen years old, Kat, as she was then known, realized that she wasn’t just partying hard, but she was drinking to black out. Bad things happened to her when she was drunk of which she had no memory of. She was scared. Amazingly, she at this age had the maturity to voluntarily go to rehab and join a sober living community.  She did not want this to be her life. And it worked, it really did. For a year, Kathrine was clean, sober, working and self-supporting. She was happy and beautiful and we were full of hope.

And then she felt strong enough to go it alone. She had just turned nineteen and signed a lease for her own apartment. So full of hope for her future. But she wasn’t ready.

As her family, we did not have the knowledge or resources to provide Kathrine with the help she needed, and we struggled to find those things.  We stumbled upon one obstacle after another, contradictory opinions even amongst the medical professionals and recovery community, and lack of family support.  Twelve weeks later Kathrine was dead. Her first overdose was her last.

I couldn’t save my child. Ask any mother how that feels and you will get a lot of different answers with a common theme. Guilt, sadness, disbelief and most of all, grief.  Grief that I will never see my child reach her potential, and what potential she had.

And so, I started a support group, because I could find no support. And I educated myself in order to know how to help others, because I had none. And I have, through this, found some of the best people in my life who I now call family.

Now our FODA family works as mainly an online Facebook group where families share support and resources.  There will always be someone who you can reach out to, have a telephone conversation or a face to face meeting with.