A heartbroken mother has a very critical message for parents after her son’s tragic passing.
Tracy Reinholt is telling others that curiosity about drugs could lead people down a dark path.
The mom told The Jersey Journal that she discovered her 15-year-old son, Hunter, unconscious and unresponsive on Easter Sunday after he had tried pills for the first time. It was his first and only time taking drugs, but the result was still shocking.
She recalls the final moments she spent with her son and remembers the last words they shared together. The two were in Arizona visiting her dad, and they had seen a movie the night before. By 10pm, she was in bed. Before he went to bed, he said, “love ya, mom.” The next morning, he was already gone.
She wrote in his obituary, “My darkest hour is now as I have to say goodbye to the love of my life, my Hunter. No words can touch the profound sadness that engulfs me, but I am truly grateful for the love that surrounds me. This is a tragic tale – and as with all tales, there is a lesson to be learned – “it only takes once”. My brave beautiful soul lost his life because he chose to experiment just one time with something all too dangerous. The epidemic of prescription drugs is all too real – please spread the word far and wide – especially to your children.”
Tracy states that, her entire life, she was afraid that he would go down the dark path that her father also went down. The teen’s dad had struggled with addiction until Hunter was 8 years old. This had a large impact on Hunter, who grew up to be a very curious child and teen. He allegedly had a keen interest in drugs but had never experimented until the fatal night.
The pills turned out to apparently be his grandfather’s, who took them to treat his bursitis and arthritis.
The mom is now begging for other parents and caregivers to be to be more vigilant about drugs and to educate themselves about drug curiosity.