This picture of Kurt is at a cottage and was taken in 2020. Christine Padaric says she loves this photo of her son because ‘he looks so healthy and happy.’ (Christine Padaric)
“He loved working with people. He had such empathy for others and he turned into the naloxone guy,” she said.
“He had dozens of kits in his apartment. He would get phone calls in the middle of the night from people saying that someone was overdosing and he would take a cab there.”
Still, Padaric says, they were worried about Kurt.
“You try to find all the help you can get for your kids, you do everything you can, but you never feel it’s enough,” she said, noting she and her husband were constantly worried about Kurt relapsing and using drugs again.Christine says Kurt really liked to express himself through art. This piece is called ‘Ghosts of my Past.’ (Christine Padaric)
Mother and son would have a 10 a.m. check-in from work every day and she’d go home at lunch if she hadn’t heard from Kurt. When they went away, friends stopped in to see Kurt regularly.
“He hated himself as an addict, as a substance user, it really, really, really ate away at him and his self esteem,” she said.
Christine took this selfie with her husband, Klaus, and their son Kurt at the cottage in 2021. Kurt died on Jan. 3, 2022. (Christine Padaric)
‘It can happen to anybody’
Overdose Awareness Day, also called Drug Poisoning Awareness Day, will be marked with local events. The day is meant to remember those who have died from an overdose and acknowledge the grief of the family and friends left behind.
Padaric says it’s also a day to recognize there are people suffering in silence.