PROJECT RECOVERY

Utah mother tells her story of coping after losing a daughter to a fentanyl overdose

May 14, 2020, 11:04 AM

fentanyl overdose...

Charla Bocchicchio recalls her story of losing her daughter to a fentanyl overdose on the Project Recovery podcast.

A mother should never have to grieve over losing a daughter from a fentanyl overdose but that’s exactly where Charla Bocchicchio found herself in 2016.

Charla’s daughter, Cassidy, was no stranger to substance abuse. She suffered from multiple mental health issues and frequently sought out illegal drugs. Cassidy’s experimentation with illegal drugs saw her use of heroin at the age of 15-years-old. Bocchicchio, an award-winning and well-renowned actress in Utah, described her daughter’s use of illegal drugs on the Project Recovery podcast.

Cassidy’s fentanyl overdose traced back to mental health issues at an early age

“In that developing young brain, it almost felt like she didn’t stand a chance,” Charla recalled. “At the time, what we were battling, as far as finding appropriate treatment and everything, it just felt like we were way in over our heads.”

Charla said her daughter’s mental health issues began in middle school according. By the time Cassidy was in middle school, there were clear signs of severe depression. She even began to self-mutilate to try and cope with her depression.

“It broke my heart to know that she was in so much anguish and that she didn’t have the tools to express it,” she said.

To try and help Cassidy’s mental health issues, she began a 28-day stay at a psychiatric youth unit at a nearby hospital. But unbeknownst to Charla, Cassidy’s issues went further than just the cutting, she had begun to experience suicidal thoughts at the age of 12 years old.

Unable to fight off the demons

After spending a week in the psychiatric unit, Cassidy was beginning to look better according to Bocchicchio.

“She seemed to be much better. She really did well in that setting. [Cassidy] was given some tools and so much care that she really did well,” she explained.

Cassidy would continue her recovery in an intensive outpatient care facility three days a week after school. But by the time high school came around, Cassidy’s struggles continued and she began to experiment with multiple illegal substances to numb her pain.

“At that time, it’s kind of experimentation for a lot of these girls but I think for Cassidy, she was looking for the next thing to make her feel better,” Bocchicchio said.

Unfortunately, Cassidy would begin to spend her time with friends that became a negative influence on her. To make matters worse, she would also spend time with a boy who pushed Cassidy’s drug use to its limits. All the while she was hiding it all from her parents ⁠— until disaster struck.

“We get a call from the police that a 9-1-1 call had been made from our daughter at our home. She had called 9-1-1 because her boyfriend had overdosed and was seizing on her bedroom floor,” Bocchicchio recalled. “They had injected cocaine.”

Cassidy tries to come clean

Coupled with an increase in substance abuse and a bad influence in the form of her daughter’s boyfriend, Charla knew she had to do something. So she began to look for a drug treatment center that could save her daughter.

“We found a program in southern Utah, near St. George in Hurricane called Sunrise and we called and we told [them] our story,” Bocchicchio said.

Cassidy broke up with her boyfriend and ultimately stayed her whole junior year of high school at the Sunrise Residential Treatment Center for Teenage Girls.

“She did beautifully. It was the first time we had hope,” “It was like I had my daughter back.”

Cassidy graduated from the program and was really doing well according to Bocchicchio, until her first relapse.

The dark reality of addiction

From that point on, Cassidy’s journey into addiction was extreme. She was constantly fighting her disease and continuously falling back into the arms of substance abuse. Cassidy vowed to quit heroin but in doing so, she began to abuse meth.

“She had a Xanax prescription. She was on a few mood stabilizers … she had tools but it was like she just craved this other, more powerful substance that was going to take everything away,”

Cassidy’s drive to fuel her addiction was at an all-time high following her relapse. Bocchicchio decided that she needed to make another change to help save her daughter. They relocated to Los Angeles, CA. in the hopes of starting fresh.

Unfortunately, Cassidy quickly became friends with others like her so she could use again. Once she became acclimated with her new location Cassidy found a different boyfriend who she could lean on to use with her. They got an apartment together and on November 11th, 2016, it all came crashing down.

The two of them decided they were going to shoot up heroin at his house. Unfortunately, the heroin that Cassidy’s boyfriend had purchased was laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid pain reliever 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. The dosage was so intense that both of them began to lose consciousness. When her boyfriend woke up, Cassidy was unconscious. He immediately called 9-1-1 but it was too late.

Cassidy had lost her fight with addiction.

Charla uses writing as a way to cope with Cassidy’s fentanyl overdose

The grieving process of losing a loved one is unique to every individual. For Charla, she turned to writing.

“I felt this pull and purpose that telling my daughter’s story was really important moving forward,” she explained.

Charla says she never felt the urge to write a book about what happened. Her goal was to just get her thoughts on paper. There were so many memories swimming around in her head. She used writing to express the pain she was feeling. Charla began to write more and more about the loss of her daughter.

“I blogged for the first year after her death. Every so often I would write something amusing as it would come to me or some hard thing that I was dealing with. Things I was learning,” she described.

Finding solace in helping others

Charla’s blog began to gain more and more traction online. Viewers everywhere would recount their own experiences with losing a loved one to addiction. The support began to grow so much that she began getting requests to publish her story. After much thought, she decided that publishing her stories might truly help others overcome their losses.

So she found an editor and made it happen. As beneficial as it’s been for Charla, others have found solace in her book as well.

“I think there are so many different stages of the process of grieving someone. I’ve had people contact me days after their loved one has died of an overdose because they found the book … and they want advice,” Charla said.

The book has taught Charla many things about the process of grief. But now she’s just grateful for what she still has.

“Looking back at the book and my writing I’ve realized that I really had a lot of great tools that I didn’t even think were tools but that really helped me through this whole process,” she recalled. “One of them was finding gratitude in every moment.”

Listen to the podcast to learn more about opioid prevention

For more information on addiction or if you or someone you know is struggling, you can find more information on Facebook, KSL TV, or from Use Only as Directed. To hear more from Casey Scott and Dr. Matt Woolley, you can listen below or subscribe to the ‘Project Recovery’ podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get major podcasts.

You can also find Charla’s book, My New Normal: A Mother’s Story of Love and Loss in the Opioid Epidemic on Amazon.

KSL 5 TV Live

Project Recovery

recovery...

Josh Tilton

How a Utah recovery center is innovating treatment for substance abuse

A Utah recovery center owner is redefining how others find recovery after he struggled to live a substance-free lifestyle for years. Jordan Burningham, who was once addicted to heroin and struggling to stay sober, is in charge of one of the leading innovative recovery centers in Utah. He’s currently 6 years sober himself and through […]

2 years ago

Instagram...

Josh Tilton

How Instagram became an outlet for a mother struggling with addiction

After struggling for years with being able to stay sober, Gentry Jones turned to Instagram to try and help curb her addiction to alcohol and get her on the road to recovery. Gentry, now a mother of four kids, began to experiment with alcohol throughout her teenage years. Her substance abuse began to escalate as […]

2 years ago

Tainted...

Josh Tilton

Utah artist on how his addiction help fueled the creation of his new single “Tainted”

Growing up in a traditional Utah household, Tyler Gould was living the all-American dream. He was active in multiple sports and even a member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints. But after getting an itch to sell extra ADD medicine that he had laying around when he was fourteen years old, his life would never […]

2 years ago

Project Recovery host Casey Scott talks to Sarah Frei about their experiences with drunk driving cr...

Ashley Moser & Jared Turner, KSL TV

Sarah Frei Gives Emotional Interview About Losing Legs In Crash

Project Recovery podcast host Casey Scott sat down with Sarah Frei, the young woman who lost both of her legs in a crash caused by a drunk driver.

3 years ago

Coming to understand what Casey Scott’s addiction was truly like for his children only came recen...

Aley Davis & Debbie Worthen, KSL TV

Addiction Through A Daughter’s Eyes: How Teen’s Letter Impacted Casey Scott

Addiction is a family disease. It doesn't just affect the individual struggling, but everyone who loves them. Former KSL-TV feature reporter Casey Scott took that message to heart after reading a paper written by his 16-year-old daughter, Preslee.

3 years ago

promote safe prescription drug use...

Josh Tilton

Helpful ways to promote safe prescription drug use with Know Your Script

SALT LAKE CITY — Between 2017-2020, Intermountain Healthcare has been successful in reducing opioids by 9.5 million fewer pills and reducing benzodiazepine and opioid co-prescribing by 49%. All the while, finding ways to promote safe prescription drug use for Utahns within our state. According to Kim Compagni, AVP Pain Management Services at Intermountain Healthcare, we […]

3 years ago

Sponsored Articles

Stack of old laptops with dark background...

PC Laptops

Old Laptop Upgrades You Need to Try Before Throwing it Away

Get the most out of your investment. Try these old laptop upgrades before throwing it out to keep it running fast and efficient.

Happy diverse college or university students are having fun on their graduation day...

BYU MBA at the Marriott School of Business

How to Choose What MBA Program is Right for You: Take this Quiz Before You Apply!

Wondering what MBA program is right for you? Take this quiz before you apply to see if it will help you meet your goals.

Close up of an offset printing machine during production...

Les Olson IT

Top 7 Reasons to Add a Production Printer to Your Business

Learn about the different digital production printers and how they can help your company save time and money.

vintage photo of lighting showroom featuring chandeliers, lamps, wall lights and mirrors...

Lighting Design

History of Lighting Design | Over 25 Years of Providing Utah With the Latest Trends and Styles

Read about the history of Lighting Design, a family-owned and operated business that paved the way for the lighting industry in Utah.

Fiber Optical cables connected to an optic ports and Network cables connected to ethernet ports...

Brian Huston, CE and Anthony Perkins, BICSI

Why Every Business Needs a Structured Cabling System

A structured cabling system benefits businesses by giving you faster processing speeds and making your network more efficient and reliable.

notebook with password notes highlighted...

PC Laptops

How to Create Strong Passwords You Can Actually Remember

Learn how you can create strong passwords that are actually easy to remember! In a short time you can create new ones in seconds.

Utah mother tells her story of coping after losing a daughter to a fentanyl overdose