Cammie Wolf Rice’s life story is a poignant testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable loss. Her journey, marked by personal tragedies, has led her to become a fervent advocate in the fight against opioid addiction. Living in Hong Kong for seven years and returning recently to promote her new book, “The Flight: My Opioid Journey,” Rice shares her painful yet inspiring experiences with the world.
Her narrative begins with her son Christopher’s battle with ulcerative colitis, diagnosed in junior high in the United States. A significant turning point came when he was a senior in high school in the early 2000s and underwent surgery to remove part of his colon. Post-surgery, he was prescribed 90 OxyContin pills, a decision that Wolf Rice, trusting her doctor’s advice, did not question at the time. This prescription marked the beginning of Christopher’s 15-year struggle with opioid addiction, culminating tragically in a heroin overdose during a family holiday in Cambodia in 2016.
The stigma surrounding addiction weighed heavily on Wolf Rice, taking her two years to openly acknowledge her son’s cause of death. This societal pressure led her to advocate for a dignified remembrance of Christopher, away from judgmental whispers. Driven by her grief, she embarked on a mission to understand and combat addiction from its roots, focusing on its inception, often in hospitals with prescribed painkillers.
Recognizing that many heroin users’ journeys begin with prescribed opioids, Wolf Rice helped initiate a clinical trial in Atlanta at Grady Memorial Hospital. The trial aimed to assess the effectiveness of “life care specialists” in hospitals, who would educate patients about opioids, their addictive nature, and non-addictive pain management techniques. This initiative, finding success in its pilot phase, is now expanding to nine rural hospitals in the United States. Furthermore, a substantial grant from the NFL has facilitated the extension of this program to support American football players in pain management.
Wolf Rice’s ambition stretches beyond her home country. Having a strong connection to Hong Kong, she envisions introducing life care specialists there, leveraging the online curriculum she developed. Her time in Hong Kong was interspersed with frequent trips to the U.S. to be with Christopher during his addiction treatments, experiences that profoundly influenced the title and theme of her book. “The Flight” metaphorically represents life’s journey, with its unexpected arrivals and departures, joys, and sorrows.
In 2021, while working on her book, another tragedy struck. Her brother, grappling with anxiety during the Covid pandemic, died after taking a Xanax pill laced with fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid. This loss further fueled her commitment to raising awareness about the dangers of fentanyl and other opioids.
Wolf Rice emphasizes the importance of education and open conversations about drug use, especially for young people and their families. She urges parents to have candid discussions or involve a trusted family member or friend in these conversations, stressing the lethal risks associated with today’s street drugs.
Her book, “The Flight: My Opioid Journey,” available in Hong Kong at Bookazine, is not just a memoir. It is a clarion call for awareness, education, and change in the ongoing battle against opioid addiction. Wolf Rice’s story is a powerful reminder of the urgent need to address this crisis and the potential for individual stories of loss to ignite a broader movement for change.
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