'No parent should ever bury their child': One parent's experience has led her to action
Sheryl Johnson is on a mission to erase the stigma associated with mental illness after losing her son when he was only 22-years-old.
The most recent numbers, which were released in 2017, show that more than 47,000 people died in the U.S. after overdosing on opioids according to National Institute on Drug Abuse.
For Sheryl Johnson that number is personal, but her story isn’t about the opioid that ultimately led to her son’s death. It’s about breaking down the stigma associated with mental illness.
“I think about fentanyl and the opioid crisis and all of the attention we pay to the drugs,” Johnson said. “I always say we have to start at the beginning of the story.”
The beginning of the story for Johnson starts with a brown-eyed, blond-haired boy who loved engines and the outdoors. He was funny, quirky and brilliant as she describes him. He was her firstborn.
