by Brea’Lynn Clark

Navigating life as a teenage girl is already hard enough, trying to control all of our emotions. Losing my brother to  drug overdose has added layers of  feelings I never thought I would have to feel. Drug awareness isn’t just a cause to me. It’s a personal mission I set upon myself . I’ve seen first hand how the shadows of drugs can just  pull you under, and I want to shed light. 

Growing up my brother was light and joyful. He was my protector, the person I would run to. Growing up we would  lie for each other. Tell on each other. We just  did things only siblings would understand. We would play and get  mad at each other. Everything was perfect. It was just me and him and my mom against the world. 

Everything changed whenever we got older.  The once happy spirit I saw with  bright eyes, was now replaced by sadness and dull eyes. I never pushed myself to know what was going on, unaware of the battle he was struggling with behind his faded smile. 

The turning point was the first time he overdosed. A 15 year- old boy lost his life that day and he was never the same again.  The paramedics saved him and I had never seen my brother cry like he did. The strong person I would call whenever I needed was no longer him.

Everything changed after that. It was a constant cycle no matter what. It was a life of fear for everyone around him not to know if he would be here the next day. My mom would beg him to go to rehab. She would do everything that a mother can to make it better for him. I know he saw that.

 “Drugs were my first love.” Those were words my brother said in a letter he wrote while in jail. Drugs aren’t a joke. They are an addiction and they take you away from people who love you. 

At  the end of the cycle after over a dozen overdoses,  he lost his life on June 8, 2025. I know he felt pain and I know he felt struggles. Maybe by reading my story you will take the lesson as this. Don’t do something that may  make you not live  to see another day. There is always a chance and you don’t get  lucky every time.