USA First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff

Dear First Lady Cathy Justice,
My name is Shelley Deem. I live in Parkersburg, WV. I lost my 20-year-old son, Caleb, to a fentanyl
overdose, on the night of his 20th birthday. I got the worst call of my life at 9:54 am. His friends sat
there with him for approximately 6 hours and didn’t help him. Another friend showed up and called the
ambulance. My house was so close to where he was, I could hear the sirens. I ran all the way from
my house to his location without stopping and arrived in time to see him being brought out on a
stretcher, lifeless. Narcan wasn’t working so I knew he had laid there too long. He was on life support
for 5 days, but they were unable to save him because he was brain dead. I had to make the choice
no parent should ever have to make, to pull the plug on his life support.
At 20 years old, Caleb was just beginning to live life. He was robbed of his life because of fentanyl.
Some will say he made a choice to do the drug, but he did not choose to take fentanyl; it was a
mistake. You are supposed to learn from your mistakes, not die from them. He wasn’t a drug addict,
he was celebrating his birthday and ended up doing bad stuff that took his life. He left behind a son
that loved his daddy dearly! My daughter lost her brother, who was supposed to be her protector. My
mom lost her grandson; he was her whole world. I lost my only son and I live with his loss every day!
I am in recovery myself. Caleb’s death occurred when I was only 10 months sober. I was able to stay
sober throughout the hardest time of my life. I was consumed by his death for 2 years. I now have 5
years sobriety, and I have learned to turn my pain into strength by helping others that struggle with
addiction. I am out here on the front lines battling this epidemic, and I help other moms get through
the loss of their children as well. Everything I do is to honor my son. If his story saves one person, he
is a hero. Our town has been ravaged by this epidemic. It is so sad to see what the drugs have done
to our community. I help as many people as I can. I wish I could save them all. I hope to keep the next
parent from going through what I go through every day. I have lost so many loved ones and friends as
well to this epidemic. I hate fentanyl---it took half of my heart to heaven.
I am an ambassador for the Drug Epidemic Memorial Wall campaign. This is a nationwide group with
several unbelievable moms who have lost their children to the fentanyl crisis. There is a virtual Drug
Epidemic Memorial Wall for every state with our angels’ pictures. All of us grieving moms would like to
have a memorial wall put up in each State Capitol Complex, to honor our beautiful, loved ones who
have been lost to this drug crisis. We are trying to raise awareness of this scourge. We hope in doing
so, West Virginia mothers and families will be spared the heartache we have encountered, we will
know that our loved ones’ lives mattered. We don’t want anyone else to suffer the same pain and
heartbreak caused by the fentanyl crisis.
Thank you for your consideration. Will you help us in this endeavor, and support the Drug Epidemic
Memorial Wall being installed somewhere within the WV State Capitol Complex?
Sincerely yours,
Shelley Deem
Parkersburg, WV
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