Paul Francs Duffy II donned a suit and headed to the hospital when he got a call that another person had been rushed to the emergency room after an overdose. As a peer support specialist, Duffy offered support to survivors and encouraged them to seek treatment as he did.
For a time, though, he quietly struggled with his own drinking while working to help other addicts.
“It’s addiction madness, isn’t it?” Duffy’s partner Gwen Dudley told Fox News. “Duffy knew how dangerous this was in his job, but he thought he could control it.”
When Dudley last saw Duffy alive, they were arguing about him getting medical attention.
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“I thought he might lose his job,” she said. “He was afraid to reach out his hand and ask for his help, admitting he was using it.”
“Stigma is strong even for people in recovery,” said Dudley, a recovering addict himself.
Duffy passed away at the age of 32 on May 2, 2021.
“He died from fentanyl poisoning. That’s what I call it because it is,” Dudley told Fox News.
“He saved people’s lives”
After Duffy’s death, Dudley has fought to end the shame associated with addiction, hoping that fewer people will suffer silently until it’s too late to seek help. I’m sure my “soulmate” is preventing me from asking for help.
“Addiction is not discrimination. It has no face,” said Dudley. “Everyone.”
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Daffy, who went by her last name, was born and raised in Annapolis, Maryland, where Dudley and her son still live. Like many others, Duffy got hooked on opioids through a legal prescription: He was first given OxyContin in high school for his back injury, Dudley told Fox. told the news.
But when prescription opioids got out of hand, Duffy turned to heroin, a cheaper and more accessible option. I was on opioids to get off stimulants.
About five years ago, Dudley met a recovering Duffy. He was clean for about a year, but had intermittent relapses, and his longest sobriety lasted as long as his four years.
“Duffy was charismatic and funny,” said Dudley. “He was giving, loving, vivacious, and had a lust for life that most people don’t have.”
The two soon built a life together and had a son, Luca, now three. .
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Duffy eventually landed a job as a peer support specialist for the Ann Arundel County Health Department in Maryland. This is a position created as part of the county’s efforts to combat the fentanyl crisis.
“He saved people’s lives,” said Dudley. “I was so proud of him.”
“He was so amazed that he could do everything he went through as a job,” she added. “It turned his pain into purpose.”
“Addiction does not discriminate”
In early 2021, Duffy’s mental health began to improve. Her couple’s hectic work schedule became even busier with a toddler, and Dudley’s father died of pancreatic cancer.
“I could clearly see that Duffy was having a hard time. ‘He was very depressed.'”
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Duffy sought out a therapist with whom he ultimately had no connection. Instead, he turned to alcohol, considering it to be a substance he could control.It wasn’t long before Duffy, after his nearly three clean years, found himself abusing drugs again. became.
Addiction is “not what you think it is,” said Dudley. “It comes from trauma, mental health issues and pain.”
“He tried to stop, but he couldn’t,” she told Fox News. “He was essentially using it against his will.”
Two months later, Duffy promised to help him if he got one more point.
But he never returned home.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Duffy unknowingly purchased drugs laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine.
“Fentanyl is horrible,” said Dudley. “I wake up at night. My stomach turns.”
Dudley goes out with Duffy’s mother to find a partner, and receives a call from the hospital. Duffy was found hours after her overdose and she was still unconscious as she had no one who had Narkan.
Duffy was on life support for three days before doctors declared him brain dead from oxygen deprivation.
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She reflected on Duffy’s reluctance to seek help.
“To treat this as some kind of moral failure for me is mind-boggling,” she said. “This is really a medical problem.”
“We all need to know what fentanyl is, what it’s in, and educate those around us because it’s a public health crisis,” Dudley added.
death from drug overdose In 2021, it will exceed 100,000 for the first time in US history, According to the CDCMore than 64,000 of these deaths were due to synthetic fabrics. opioids such as fentanyl.
“This is coming across the border,” said Dudley. ‘Border policy is failing’
“And I don’t want to make it political, but it’s just a fact,” she added.
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“Heroic in his own way”
Seeking to end stigma and make treatment more comfortable for people, Dudley now works remotely as the National Outreach Coordinator for the Ascend Recovery Center in West Palm Beach. She uses her TikTok as a platform to raise her awareness of the dangers of fentanyl.
As her son grew up, “I’m going to let him know that his dad is sick,” said Dudley. He battled the disease and explained fentanyl to him.”
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Though she is still heartbroken, Duffy’s death has given Dudley a new sense of purpose.
“Before I do, I thank him for believing in my strength,” she told Fox News. It taught me how to care and help people wholeheartedly.”
Dudley said, “That’s why we can bring meaning to his death and help others with that spirit.”