After losing her partner to fentanyl, Gwen Dudley discusses the grief associated with holidays and encourages people to support friends struggling with loss.
Gwen Dudley seeks to end the stigma and shame around addiction and to raise awareness about the dangers of fentanyl after her partner, Paul Duffy, overdosed.
Dudley’s partner, Paul Francs Duffy II, 32, relapsed after staying sober for three years. He died soon after, in May 2021, leaving behind his and Dudley's son, Luca, who is now three years old.WATCH MORE FOX NEWS DIGITAL ORIGINALS HERE Duffy got hooked on drugs through a legitimate prescription — he'd initially been given OxyContin in high school for a back injury, Dudley told Fox News. He battled with addiction for the next 15 years, going through multi-year periods of sobriety followed by relapse. , a synthetic opioid 50-100 times stronger than morphine, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
Before his death, Duffy worked as a peer support specialist for the Anne Arundel County Health Department in Maryland, a position created as part of the county's effort to battle the fentanyl crisis. Dudley said fear of judgment, even from within the recovery community, held Duffy back from seeking help once he began using again in 2021.
Dudley encouraged people to check on friends grieving the loss of a loved one due to drug abuse this holiday season."Maybe a year or two or five has passed since they lost someone and they seem okay on the outside," Dudley said."But acknowledgment of their grief might be what they desperately need."
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