Family writes candid obituary after daughter's drug overdose
The family of a 24-year-old woman who died of a heroin overdose has written an obituary openly discussing her struggle with drugs, including a plea to "do everything possible" to help drug addicts before it's too late.
Molly Parks died in Manchester on April 16. Her father, Tom Parks, writes that along her journey through life, "she made a lot of bad decisions, including experimenting with drugs."
Four days after visiting her family at their Maine home, her body was discovered in the bathroom at the restaurant where she worked. There was a needle stuck in her arm.
The next morning her father and the rest of the family took to Facebook to express their grief.
“She tried to fight addiction in her own way and last night her fight came to an end in a bathroom of a restaurant with a needle of heroin.
"Her whole family tried to help her win the battle but we couldn't show her a way that could cure her addiction. We will always love her and miss her. If you have a friend or a relative who is fighting the fight against addiction please do everything you can to be supportive.
Maybe for your loved one it'll help. Sadly for ours it didn't. I hope my daughter can now find the peace that she looked for [her] on earth," he wrote.
Molly fought her addiction for at least five years and experienced a near-fatal overdose at least once before. Her family said they tried to be as supportive as possible as she struggled with the heroin epidemic "that has been so destructive to individuals and families in her age bracket."
The honest obituary has hit a nerve online, with people praising the family for sharing their story.
Her father told WMUR-TV that his daughter had visited him the weekend before her death. She was working and seemed to be doing well, he said.
Parks says the message is: "Don't believe your addict is clean. Don't do it. You have to be diligent. Stay right on top of them."
