Our Story

Clay Suggs

Michele is the mother of two boys, Clayton (Clay) and Bradley. She raised her boys in small-town Waynesville, NC. Both boys excelled athletically, having a particular passion for baseball. Although she and their father divorced when the boys were quite young, they co-parented well and the boys were blessed with loving step-parents. Life in their middle class, close-knit Christian home was pretty normal and when the boys were growing up, Michele never imagined that drugs would not only enter their family, drugs would ultimately shatter their world by taking Clay at the young age of 29. Throughout his teen years, Clay had chronic sinus infections. In his early 20s the ENT said it was time for surgery. It was a routine outpatient surgery. Clay was prescribed Percocet. When he ran out, the doctor refilled it. Then refilled it again. Unbeknownst to his family, Clay had become addicted and dependent on prescription pain medication. When the scripts ran out, he started buying pills on the street. He reached a point that his addiction was so expensive, he could no longer pay his bills, including his mortgage. That’s when he asked for help. Thus, began a 6-year cycle of going to rehab, getting clean, relapsing and starting over again. Every time he relapsed, it seemed to get worse. In 2015 or 2016 Clay was introduced to heroin by a drug dealer – it was cheaper and easier to get. On October 31, 2017, Clay checked himself into a detox and rehab center. From there he transferred to a long-term treatment facility. He was clean for 4 days shy of 11 months when he felt strong and confident enough to move out and into an apartment. His first night in his apartment, Clay relapsed, contacted a local drug dealer and bought what he thought was heroin. It wasn’t. At 3:53pm on Friday, September 28, 2018, Michele received a phone call that stopped her world from spinning. Clay had been found passed away in his apartment of an apparent drug overdose. It wasn’t until the autopsy results were given that the family learned that Clay’s cause of death Fentanyl Poisoning. Clay loved helping others and had a true servant’s heart. In his loving memory, his mom, Michele has vowed to help others by being a source of support for family members affected by the horrible drug crisis. Her goal is to be a part of the solution by bringing awareness, eliminating the stigma of addiction and most of all helping to ensure that no other mama should suffer in silence the way she did through her son’s addiction and her family’s tremendous loss to the opioid crisis. On October 31, 2017, Clay checked himself into a detox and rehab center. From there he transferred to a long-term treatment facility. He was clean for 4 days shy of 11 months when he felt strong and confident enough to move out and into an apartment. His first night in his apartment, Clay relapsed, contacted a local drug dealer and bought what he thought was heroin. It wasn’t. At 3:53pm on Friday, September 28, 2018, Michele received a phone call that stopped her world from spinning. Clay had been found passed away in his apartment of an apparent drug overdose. It wasn’t until the autopsy results were given that the family learned that Clay’s cause of death Fentanyl Poisoning. Clay loved helping others and had a true servant’s heart. In his loving memory, his mom, Michele has vowed to help others by being a source of support for family members affected by the horrible drug crisis. Her goal is to be a part of the solution by bringing awareness, eliminating the stigma of addiction and most of all helping to ensure that no other mama should suffer in silence the way she did through her son’s addiction and her family’s tremendous loss to the opioid crisis.