The Untimely Death of Cory Monteith
The Unfortunate Death of Cory Monteith
Everyone is talking and writing about the death of Glee star, Cory Monteith. Unfortunately, another person is dead due to drugs and alcohol. It was officially reported that he died of a combination of heroin and alcohol, obviously a very dangerous and deadly combination.
I don’t watch the show – I may have seen one or two glee episodes – and I don’t know much about Cory Monteith. I just know that it’s another tragedy where someone’s life has been taken because they weren’t able to beat their addiction. Monteith had been to rehab a few times, and for whatever reason, he wasn’t able to stay clean and sober.
There’s no reason that Cory Monteith’s death is more important than the death of anyone else, but he is famous so news spreads very quickly. He has fans all over the world, and it’s a sad day for many people.
Whenever I hear about people dying from a drug overdose, and often it’s celebrities, I find myself wondering what more could have been done. Is there something someone could have done or said to help Cory? Why couldn’t he stay clean? Why did he end up alone in a hotel room using heroin and alcohol to the point of overdose and death? There’s not an answer, and there probably never will be. I find myself having the same questions when anyone dies because of drugs and alcohol, not just when it’s a celebrity.
Whether I know the person or not, I always feel so sad. I know how horrible it is to have to struggle with an addiction and how difficult it can be to stay clean. I also know that there’s nothing that can make someone stay clean. I don’t know why some people ‘get it’ and stay clean and why others don’t, but I wish I did. I wish there were a concrete answer so people would stop dying everyday from drug overdoses.
To most people, Cory Monteith is just a celebrity – someone they enjoy watching on TV and reading about in the tabloids – but he has friends and family. He has people who are absolutely devastated by his death. I think it’s important to remember that he is just another person who was struggling and needed help. Celebrities aren’t immune to addiction – no one is. Addiction kills all kinds of people, and having fame and money doesn’t exclude someone from addiction and death. Nothing does.
The only thing I know how to do is to share my experiences with people. It took me a long time to figure out how to live my life without drugs, but I’m grateful that I have figured it out. I have to work hard in this journey through recovery, but it’s worth it. It’s worth it because I don’t want my family and friends to have to find me dead somewhere from a drug overdose. I don’t want my friends and family to wonder what more they could have done. I don’t want them to wonder how they could have saved me.