Sue Kruczek to Speak to Daniel Hand Students About CT's Substance Abuse Crisis

By Jack Kramer, Correspondent

GUILFORD, CT – A Guilford mother, Sue Kruczek, who has become known statewide for trying to educate people about the dangers of opioids has been asked by the U.S. District Attorney’s office to team up with them in an effort to battle the drug crisis.

On Thursday, from 8:30 to 10 a.m. of this week she will make an appearance with the group at her son’s old high school – Daniel Hand High School in Madison, to talk to kids about the substance abuse crisis that killed over 900 people in the state of Connecticut last year. (To sign up for Guilford breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

She will also be making a return visit to Hand, at the same time, on May 31st.

She admits, “This will probably be a bit more emotional for me walking into Nick’s old school, lots of memories, where his addiction started and speaking to siblings of Nick’s friends.

“I will wear his official DHHS #5 hockey jersey though with pride,” Sue Kruczek said.

Sue Kruczek is the latest member of HEAT (heroin education action team), a group of law, mental health professionals and others, who go around to schools across the state talking to teens about the dangers of heroin, opioids and substance abuse.

On Thursday, there will be a showing of Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict, a powerful documentary created by the FBI and DEA to educate students and parents about the dangers of addiction. The movie will be followed by a discussion with Sue Kruczek.

The mission of the U.S. Attorney’s Heroin Education Action Team (USA HEAT) is to stop the spread of the opioid abuse epidemic in Connecticut by increasing community understanding of the dangers associated with these drugs.

USA HEAT is a partnership between the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut and families who have lost a loved one to an overdose.

Sue Kruczek’s son died of a drug overdose at the age of 20 and she has become one of the go to spokespeople on the opioid epidemic plaguing the state of Connecticut.

She was at the side of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy last May when he signed landmark legislation placing a 7-day cap on opioid prescription, a law sponsored by Guilford State Rep. Sean Scanlon, another politician that Kruczek has spent much of the past year with at events concerning the opioid crisis.

Sue Kruczek said: “It never gets easier going to talk about Nick and reliving what had been my biggest fear in life, finding him dead. It’s excruciatingly painful to relive. But when I get a beautiful email or letter from a parent or child telling me how Nick’s story saved their child – that he is also their angel I am ready to do it all over again.”