Cannon officials hear from mother who lost daughter to drug abuse

By Ben Robinson, Courier Staff

PICKENS — Julie Huneycutt was proud of her daughter Anna as she faced her teen years, but Anna had a problem.

Anna had developed an addiction to prescription drugs. She tried to overcome the addiction, even checking into a rehabilitation facility in October of 2009. But eventually Anna lost her battle and died from an overdose of prescription drugs March 6, 2010.

Her mother suffered through months of anguish. Doctors offered to give her prescription drugs to help deal with her sorrow, but she refused to indulge in drugs much like the ones her daughter had been taking when she died.

Gradually she recovered and developed Anna’s Hope to try to fight against the abuse of over-the-counter and prescription drugs.

Julie spoke to a group of healthcare professionals Thursday morning at Cannon Memorial, continuing her crusade to spread awareness of the problem and seeking their help in fighting the abuse.

Huneycutt said she even searched her own family records to see if there was a history of abuse, but it was difficult because she had been an adopted child and her biological mother did not want her current husband to know about her. But no history of abuse was found in the families of her biological parents.

She said she would love to start a group of peers at her local high school that would stand up against the use of prescription pills, and basically say, “We’re not going to stand for this.”

Huneycutt said she hopes to work with some of the new charter schools, perhaps facing fewer restrictions than with public schools.

Huneycutt also said that church youth groups can have a positive influence. She said she hoped to work with other groups during a town hall meeting coming up in her hometown in Henderson County, N.C.

“We will just sit there and brainstorm about the problems and what we can do to make a difference,” Huneycutt said. “And then we will need to get the community at large involved.”

Huneycutt said her teenage daughter was frustrated.

“She’s like, ‘I’ve got people around me who are up for three days, taking this stuff, making good grades, and I am busting my hump not taking that stuff,’” Huneycutt said. “And it’s not really fair for them to be able to change their performance.”

Huneycutt said people today seem to want instant gratification.

“We want that instant fix,” Huneycutt said. “We are a chronic nation. We’re not getting better. We’re getting worse.”

Huneycutt said she even dealt with having to refuse prescription medication at the time of her daughter’s death. Her doctor wanted give her Ativan to help her deal with her grief.

She refused, saying “no. I will never take anything that contributed to my daughter’s death. I love that I have the capacity to love someone — my child. They want to give me a pill for it.”

Huneycutt knows many families are devastated by the cost of rehab hospitals, which may or may not work. For a 35-day stay in a rehab center, the cost for her daughter was $50,000.

“Thank God we had incredible insurance,” she added.

Huneycutt’s experience has made her a believer in recovery.

“I am not ashamed of my daughter,” Huneycutt said. “She was an addict, but she was my daughter. I believe in recovery. I wanted to believe in it when Anna was going through it. I couldn’t see a light at the end of the tunnel, but I do believe in recovery.”