In 2023, nearly 80,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses. Bill Gerhart's son Connor was one of those people. In this first part of a two-part conversation, Bill shares who Connor was, from his childhood and football days to his career as a civil engineer, and how a series of surgeries and pain prescriptions led to an opioid addiction that few around him knew about. He also reflects on when he realized what was happening with Connor, and why awareness is so important.

 "He had a successful career, didn't miss much at work, he was highly functioning. He was around family - none of us really knew that he had this issue."

Hear Bill talk about:

• Connor’s childhood, football years, and what made him “every dad’s dream”
• The challenges of college and how he found his way forward
• Rebuilding confidence after setbacks and starting a successful career
• The injuries and surgeries that introduced opioids into his life
• How his family discovered his addiction, and what Bill has since learned about awareness and prevention

Mentioned in this episode and references:

• See Bill's tribute to his son Conner at Connor's Celebration of Life
• If someone you love is battling opioid addiction, find resources here
• Read more about Suboxone, a medication used to treat opioid addiction
• Learn more about Naloxone (Narcan), an opioid overdose reversal drug
• Find out more about Fentanyl test strips, a tool to detect fentanyl in recreational drugs

Closing music by Ievgen Poltavskyi from Pixabay.