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

Dear First Lady Ann Lamont:
The purpose of this letter is twofold: first, to request your assistance in stopping
senseless deaths from fentanyl and second, to ask for your support in creating a
Drug Epidemic Memorial Wall in the Connecticut State Capitol. I, along with other
members of the First Ladies’ Drug Epidemic Memorial campaign, am a victim of this
national drug crisis, having lost a loved one to the fentanyl poisoning epidemic.
On the morning of December 14, 2021, my husband went to wake up our beautiful
sixteen-year-old son, Sean, for school and, instead, found that he had passed
overnight. For two years prior to his death, Sean had been struggling with mental
health issues. He had sustained three concussions during an 18-month period of
time, was hospitalized and treated for depression, and was diagnosed with Juvenile
Myoclonic Epilepsy. Additionally, he tore his MCL playing soccer which required
surgery and rehabilitation and robbed him of one of his primary coping strategies.
This, coupled with the challenges all teenagers faced due to Covid-19, made for an
extremely challenging time for Sean. We, along with Sean, engaged in ongoing
intervention three times a week. We never, ever gave up hope that things would get
better for him. Sean was an intelligent, funny, and talented young man who had
many hopes and dreams for his future despite his setbacks. Still, we restricted
access to any means by which Sean could potentially hurt himself, including
keeping prescription medications under lock and key. However, Sean was always
trying to feel better, and he was able to obtain what he thought to be Percocet - we
believe he traded sneakers for it - right under our very noses, so to speak, through
social media. This impulsive choice proved to be unforgiving. It took Sean’s life and
cheated his older brother, Conor, and us from our future as a family. Sean was
adopted from Guatemala as a toddler. I have always been especially grateful to his
biological mother for making this sacrifice in hopes that he would have a better
chance to live a happier and healthier life. How could I ever explain this to her?
There must be more that we can do to prevent such tragedies from happening!
First Lady Lamont, I am asking for your assistance in supporting the above stated
goals of this campaign.
Sincerely,
Catherine Williamson
Manchester, CT
Mother of Sean Williamson, Forever 16
185