SEATTLE — It’s been eight months since addiction swept Sean Gahagan away.
The lives of his parents, John and Mary Jane Gahagan, will never be the same.
“I want to do what I can to make sure no other kid suffers our son’s fate,” John Gahagan said Wednesday.
The bright and creative 17-year-old boy from Mukilteo died of a heroin overdose last July. He had just graduated from Kamiak High School.
Since Sean’s death, the Gahagans got involved with The Science and Management of Addiction Foundation, a Seattle-based group fighting drug addiction in young people.
“There’s still such a stigma attached to (addiction). People think it has to do with character or integrity. It doesn’t; it’s a disease,” John Gahagan said.
The Gahagans on Wednesday attended a SAMA luncheon in Seattle to raise money and awareness about prescription drug abuse among kids.
Drugs grabbed Sean when he was in high school. His parents knew he was an addict. He went through programs. He went into treatment. The addiction held on.
The Gahagans didn’t give up. “We always had hope that things will get better. Now they won’t anymore,” John Gahagan said.
John Gahagan is working to help craft federal legislation that would allow people to safely return unused prescription medication. He also serves on SAMA’s advisory council. “Most of us have lost a kid. There’s a very sad bond there,” he said.
People need to understand that prescription drugs pose a serious threat, said Cmdr. Pat Slack of the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force.
“Kids perceive prescription drugs as harmless because they come out of the medicine cabinet,” he said. “We try to raise awareness about what the current threat levels are.”
Teens no longer need to go to a shady street corner to get drugs; they are within an arm’s reach, in the medicine cabinet, said Stephen Pasierb, president of Partnership for a Drug-Free America and the event’s guest speaker.
“Our son was very bright and very creative, which gave him the tools to fool us all the more,” John Gahagan said.
Sean was smart and funny, and stood by others when no one else would. He was a good kid. He just couldn’t beat the disease, John Gahagan said.
Sean’s death taught others a lesson, said Cimbal Irwin-Rainey, a prevention and intervention specialist at Kamiak and two other local schools.
“It’s hard to reach the families who haven’t seen the signs and symptoms yet,” Irwin-Rainey said. Teachers have been learning to detect signs of addiction, to notice small things. Addiction does happen to kids like Sean, she said.
“I feel like a failure as a parent. I couldn’t even do the most basic thing: keep my son alive ‘til his 18th birthday,” John Gahagan said.
He is not alone.
“People don’t understand how many numbers there are until parents step up and say ‘me too,’ ” said Jeanmarie Trapp of Mukilteo. One of Trapp’s children is addicted to OxyContin, a prescription painkiller. She leads a parent group in Mukilteo to fight addiction. “When you have an addict for a child, everything is out of control. This way, we can take control.”
Katya Yefimova: 425-339-3452, kyefimova@heraldnet.com.
Where to seek help
The Science and Management of Addictions Foundation: Go to www.samafoundation.org. Contact the group in Seattle at 206-328-1719 or by e-mail at info@samafoundation.org
Partnership for a Drug-Free America: Go to www.drugfree.org to find stories, guidelines and tips for parents and teens.
National Institute on Drug Abuse: Go to www.drugabuse.gov
Center for Substance Abuse Treatmnet; Call a toll-free hotline at 800-662-HELP for information about treatment and recovery services.
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