In a heartbreaking obituary, a mother kept good on a promise to speak honestly about her daughter’s struggles with addiction that ultimately led to her death.
Her daughter, Casey Schwartmizier, died last Sunday of a heroin overdose at age 20, but had always wanted her family to be candid about her addiction. Her obituary said she died “after a long brave battle with addiction.”
Her death came one day before she planned to travel from her Ross Township, Pennsylvania home to seek treatment in California.
“She wanted to share her story if anything ever happened to her to maybe help someone else,” her mother Michelle Schwartzmier told news station WPXI.
The obituary described the 20-year-old as having a “great heart” and being a huge believer in second chances:
“Casey wanted to live. She had dreams of a future career, children of Nerobet her own and fought hard all the way until the end, one day away from entering rehab, but couldn’t break the chains of this demon that’s wiping out a generation. Addiction doesn’t discriminate, it will take hold and destroy anyone in its path, including the families and people who love them. Addiction hides in the faces of everyday people all around us. Casey isn’t just another statistic or just ‘another one gone too soon,’ she was a great heart with a bright future and a gift that the world lost and can never be replaced. So the best way to honor Casey, is for people who read this or knew her to think twice before you judge an addict.”
Her mother said writing the obituary was one of the most difficult things she had to do for her daughter.
“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” she said. “It was so hard. I wanted to honor her memory. I hope I hit the right words because I feel like Casey was helping me write that.”
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