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

Dear Governor Hochul.
My name is Diane Gutchess and I live in Homer, NY. I am writing to you regarding the
fentanyl epidemic that has taken so many young lives, including my daughter, Alicia Louis.
She is forever 45. (9/12/77-1/19/23). She died of a fentanyl overdose.
Alicia was a nurse. She was married and had a home. She got in an awful accident and
was put on drugs and became addicted. She lost everything including herself. The system
had failed her numerous times - from ill- prepared hospitals, unethical doctors to greedy
rehabs. I took her to a hospital in Syracuse for addiction and she was told there was no
room. I called on all kinds of medical services, and they did not help at all. They gave her
rooms to stay in that set her up for failure. No one cared! She went to 3 different rehabs.
My husband and I drove her all the way to SC to a rehab. She did well for 4 months then
relapsed. We got her back in NY, and I can’t even tell you how many times she overdosed
and survived. Young people are overdosing daily.
Alicia was a beautiful soul who loved helping people. She worked in hospice. She loved
her home, children, and husband very much. She never dreamed her life would have
turned out like this. My daughter was in a women of violence program where they gave
her a room for 3 months. She was very excited and hopeful. I hadn’t heard from her, so I
called the police to do a wellness check and they found her dead. I am beyond devastated
my life will never be the same. There was no investigation to find out who sold the drugs
to her. They didn’t really care enough. Facebook has endless stories from parents who
are desperate to stop this epidemic. To create awareness. It’s time for us all to wake up.
Would you please assist us in finding a permanent location for a Drug Epidemic Memorial
Wall within our NY Capitol? We have created two memorial walls; one with photos, and
one with names. These digital walls will update automatically. We would like the photos to
be displayed in hard copy form. The names can be projected on a wall so that we, the
parents and loved ones, can touch our person’s name. We would like our loved ones to
be treated like victims. They are victims of Purdue Pharma (an American cartel), the
Chinese criminal networks and the Mexican cartels.
Sincerely,
Diane Gutchess
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