Life after loss- The struggle of addiction

By: Julianna Bonnett

 

Micheal Caron, was known as Mike to his family and friends and to his mentor, Chef Edmond Ellis, he was known as Mikey, the guy with such enthusiasm for what he loved. Caron spent his days at school in the kitchen or working when he was out of class. He dedicated his time to mastering some of his favourite dishes and was set to graduate from the Culinary program at St. Clair College in spring. But on November 25, 2018 family and friends were saddened to learn Caron had died from a drug overdose.

Caron was found at his house with a needle still in his arm and a head wound. There was blood everywhere.

His father, Mark Caron, was at home when he heard the news about his son. After receiving a phone call from a friend, Mark and his wife, Kathleen, raced to Mike’s house.

“It’s surreal – you don’t expect to hear something like this,” said Kathleen. “It was just a normal Sunday morning for us; we were making pancakes. To get a call and hear something like this had happened, it broke us.”

Caron was 22-years-old when he first started experiencing mental health problems, which soon led to his diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Due to his ongoing battle with bipolar disorder, he started taking medication to help but had a hard time coping with them. He felt like the medication he took wasn’t working and he didn’t help him.

After being on and off medication, he turned to other pills that he thought would help. Once Caron was honest about his reliance on Oxycodone, Percocet and Tylenol 3, he got sent to Narcotics Anonymous (NA). He went to NA meetings throughout the last eight years, but due to his busy schedule, he was unable to go in as often as he wanted.

“I truly believe his overdose was an accident,” said Mark. “He has a son and he was doing so well in school and he was working at Roseland Golf Course.”

Mark said he was doing well, but he thinks Mike thought of just taking some pills to relieve stress and because of the stuff that is on the streets nowadays, it killed him.

“We don’t know if what he was taking was laced with Fentanyl, but whatever it was took his life,” said Mark.

On Jan. 20, family and friends of Mike got together for a celebration of life event in honour of him. More than 100 people attended the celebration, sharing memories of Mike, remembering what he did for the community and hoping to spread awareness about addiction.

“I think there needs to be more awareness when it comes to addiction,” said Mark. “I struggled with an alcohol problem for years and I know what it’s like, that’s why we want to spread awareness and hopefully get others to realize, addiction is a serious problem.”

In the last year, Windsor has experienced a tremendous rise in drug overdoses. In November of 2018, Windsor saw five overdoses that happened in a 24 hour span, which shocked the community.

According to Peter Farago, a drug and medicine doctor in Windsor, addiction is one of Canada’s biggest health problems and it is looked down upon in society today.

“Drug and alcohol addiction is too often seen as a moral issue or a criminal matter rather than a health problem,” said Farago.

Farago, who has been working in addiction since 2011, said Canada has been paying the price for years by neglecting the fiscal and educational understanding when it comes to addiction.

“I think it’s a very dangerous time to be using drugs,” said Farago. “The number of drug related issues in our city will keep increasing and it really is a scary time to be on the streets.”

Farago said he feels the combination of personal shame and public stigma created tremendous obstacles to addressing the problem of alcoholism and other drug addictions.

“We need to make people feel comfortable to talk about their problems,” said Farago. “Alienating them is the fastest way to send them in the opposite direction of recovery. When struggling with a substance abuse issue, you don’t need judgement, we have to remember that people judge their own actions enough.”

The family of Mike Caron wants locals to know, if you know anyone who is suffering from an addiction issue, don’t hesitate to seek help. For more information on addiction, visit https://www.hdgh.org/addictionassessmentoutpatient