Robert had the biggest smile and an infectious laugh. As A teen he was a social butterfly ! A magnetic personality his peers were drawn to, In Roberts late teens we began to see signs of mental illness. By 21, Robert was Diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia. He fought for his Sanity every day of his life since the age of 16. He was the strongest person I ever knew. He lost his life due to a heroin overdose but I refuse to except this. My brother went to numerous hospitals with chest pain and cough bc he had a history of addiction he wasn’t taken seriously. No blood tests, EKG or Xrays. Because of his mental illness and substance abuse he was pushed aside like trash. ON HIS AUTOPSY it states Robert had double pneumonia and 83 percent blockage of the heart. He was alive an coded in the hospital. If these hospitals asked him his family history they would have known my aunt Roberts aunt had a bypass at 35, Our Father had one at 45 and grandmother at 70 and both grandfather’s had strokes. They pushed Robert away in fear that he was drug seeking instead of taking a simple EKG to show heart issues and an X-ray to show his pneumonia. I begged the mental illness housing he was in to Move him as 3 people had overdosed in that apartment and no one listened. Until it was too late, We need to start have care an compassion for the mentally ill and those in the throws of addiction! I know Robert is with God and has found peace and for this I am thankful. I just can not stand by and allow another family deal with the tremendous heartache we have. PLEASE HARD LOVE WORKS, BUT THE WORD LOVE is included. Deny money, deny a roof, but don’t deny healthcare, don’t deny communication. It is important that our loved ones in addiction know they are loved, keep in touch so when no body hears from them actions can be taken to help ASAP. And for those sick and SUFFERING, YOU ARE LOVED.
