Guilford Mom Discusses Son's Fatal Heroin Addiction

GUILFORD, CT - “One day, I didn’t get my message or my call, so I knew something was wrong.”

That was Sue Kruczek, a Guilford mom, recalling the day in 2013 when her son, Nicholas Kruczek, died of a heroin overdose. He was 20 years old, according to Fox61 News.

She was speaking at a forum Tuesday on Connecticut’s heroin and opioid addiction crisis, organized by State Rep. Sean Scanlon (D-Guilford), and she urged the standing-room-only crowd at the Guilford Community Center to take action.

“I’m hoping that by sharing Nick’s story, it’s not easy and not getting easier, but my hopes are to bring awareness and break the silence of shame and stigma that go with addiction,” said Kruczek, as reported by the New Haven Register.

Connecticut needs to realize that it has a real problem on its hands as it relates to heroin and opioid addiction and overdoses, said Scanlon and others. Overdoses in the state have spiked more than 30 percent in the past year, and along the Connecticut shoreline, several people have died from overdoses.

“Connecticut and New England are in the midst of a full-blown crisis right now,” said Scanlon.

Parents and friends need pay attention for signs of addiction, such as “pinpoint pupils” and changes in behavior of their loved ones.

“I think we need to change the language of addiction,” said Dana Hilmer, prevention coordinator at Guilford Developmental Assets for Youth. “Addiction does not discriminate, it effects everybody.”

Click here to read the full story on the Fox61 News website.

Click here to read the full story on the New Haven Register website.

Photo: Feb. 23 forum in Guilford on heroin and opioid addiction. Photo credit: Guilford Police Department