[ad_1]
APPLETON, Wisconsin — Addiction is a disease without discrimination. That’s what Bev Kelly Miller found firsthand when his daughter Megan Miller died of an overdose in 2015.
“My daughter was the nicest person you could ever hope to meet. They did everything,” said Bev Kelly Miller.
Bev Kelley-Miller first discovered her daughter had an addiction problem in 2013.
“Her oldest sister, Michele, told me she needed to talk to her because she had a drug addiction. [oxycodone]said Bev Kelly Miller.
But Megan Miller wasn’t addicted to oxycodone, she was addicted to heroin. Bev Kelley-Miller said she didn’t realize it until her daughter overdosed.
“I said to the nurse, what happened to my daughter? Why is she hooked up to an IV?
A nurse told Bev Kelley-Miller that when she was 21, Megan Miller had drug-induced pancreatitis, which occurs most frequently between the ages of 30 and 40.
Bev Kelly Miller said, “I never thought this would happen to me, and I don’t think most parents think it will happen to them.
(Spectrum News 1/Cody Taylor)
After being discharged from the hospital, Megan Miller underwent a detox and ended up using it again. .
“I don’t even know if I said I love her the last time I spoke to her,” said Bev Kelly Miller.
Bev Kelley-Miller believes her daughter’s life could have been saved if Wisconsin law at the time had been different. He said no one called the police because he was worried about the serious consequences.
“At the funeral, [her] The supplier said he was the last to see Megan alive, he was under extended supervision, and Megan was on probation, so he went back to jail, and Megan will be back in jail soon. -Miller.
After Megan Miller’s death, the 911 Good Samaritan Act was passed, but that law only protects those who call for an overdose. Users will still face prison sentences.
“Arrests cannot be a priority. All overdoses are preventable, so lives must be saved,” said Bev Kelly Miller.
The number of overdoses has risen since 2015, when 878 people died. In 2020, 1,503 Wisconsin residents died from drug overdoses.
Bev Kelley-Miller tracks as many people as possible and sews them into Wisconsin Memorial quilts.
“The problem is, when I’m standing by the quilt, people will say, ‘They don’t look dependent.
(Spectrum News 1/Cody Taylor)
Quilts are made up of hundreds of mothers, fathers, children, and grandparents across Wisconsin. Bev Kelley-Miller said he knows all about every face in a quilt.
“There’s nothing in particular about how they look. They’re like you, they’re like me, they’re like our loved ones,” said Bev Kelly Miller.
Bev Kelley-Miller took quilts to the state capitol, high schools, and even to Washington, DC. She wants to show the world that addiction is invisible.
“I collect obituaries because they give voice back to the voiceless,” said Bev Kelly Miller.
She said she encourages people to tell her about her daughter because those stories and those memories are all she has left. , which brings her joy.
[ad_2]
Source link
