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

Dear Governor Kathy Hochul,
I am an ambassador for the Drug Epidemic Memorial Walls. I lost my beautiful son, Ryan, who is
forever 22. Twenty-two years is all I had with him. He overdosed and was poisoned by fentanyl.
We loved him beyond imagination. Ryan was a funny, charismatic young man, who loved his
animals and his family and had a smile that lit up a room. He struggled with mental health and
addiction and was clean for four months when he had a slip. It was a slight relapse that took his
life! My heart will never be the same without my son. I don’t want to see any other families go
through what we have been through.
We as New Yorkers must save our children. I am an advocate for Narcan and believe there needs
to be more training available. This is a very sad and serious situation. We have about 140 people
right now on our wall and there are hundreds more that will follow once the word gets out about
our memorial wall. I plead with you as a mother - our children need to be seen, and our voices
need to be heard. Our children were human beings, not just a statistic, not just an addict, not just
a junkie. They were our children and need to be remembered respectfully! If we don’t stand up for
our family who will? My son didn’t want to die, just like any other child!
We are moving ahead and have had a lot of success with a lot of other states. I really hope we
can move forward with a memorial wall in New York and set an example for other states that we
truly care about our people. My heart stopped that December morning and I promised Ryan I
would never stop saying his name and fighting until my last breath to ensure that no other mom or
dad must bury their child. This is hitting all communities in NY and this fentanyl does not
discriminate.
I know you have children and grandchildren. Would you assist us in finding a permanent location
for a Drug Epidemic Memorial Wall within our Capitol? We have created two memorial walls: one
with photos and one with names. I am including Ryan’s frame below. These digital walls and
albums update automatically. We would also like the photos displayed in hard copy format. The
wall of names can be projected on a wall so parents can touch their loved one's name.
We would like our loved ones to be treated like victims. They were all victims of Purdue Pharma
(an American cartel) and many, many others. Now, they are victims of China and the Mexican
cartels. We are using the word “drugism” for the prejudice toward drug users - like racism. Please
hear our pleas for help in NYS.
A group of our New York moms would love to meet with you and work together to prevent this
from happening to other families.
Sincerely,
Lori McGauley
Commack Long Island, NY
657