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Debbie Dalton’s advocacy continues as officials sound the alarm on the crisis.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. โ Union County District Attorney Trey Robison is sounding the alarm about fentanyl and opioids, something he says remains a public health and safety issue as leaders across the Tar Heel State continue seeking solutions.
According to the State Bureau of Investigation, North Carolina averages nine deaths from fentanyl overdoses every day. Community leaders say itโs the number one issue impacting their community.
That’s a number that’s too high for Debbie Dalton.
Dalton lost her son, Hunter, to fentanyl in 2016. Sheโs been sharing her sonโs story for the past eight years. In almost every room in Daltonโs home, reminders and memories are seen throughout. She told WCNC Charlotte that Hunter was a UNC Charlotte graduate who had bright dreams.
โThis is Hunterโs room — he loved penguins, so we collect penguins everywhere we go,โ Dalton said.
The Monday after Thanksgiving in 2016, Dalton learned she would never see her son again. Fentanyl, which he used as a recreational drug, turned deadly.
โI was bracing for ‘Hunterโs been in an accident’. I never could have fathomed the words that Hunter had overdosed. I just remember screaming,โ Dalton said.
Dalton started her own organization, the Hunter Dalton HD Life Foundation, to warn others about the dangers of recreational drug use.
โYoung people today, to make the decision to try drugs, there really is one of two things that are going to happen: theyโre going to end up with a life of addiction or theyโre going to die,โ Dalton said.
โYou canโt talk about those things without also talking about mental health; they are intertwined,โ said Union County District Attorney Trey Robison, who’s advocating for more robust mental health and drug addiction treatment programs and places people can go when they need help.
โWeโre working on the supply side of the opioid crisis, but the demand side has to be addressed as well. Weโre not going to arrest and incarcerate people out of the opioid crisis, thatโs not going to happen,โ he added.
In the meantime, Dalton holds onto the bucket list her son created. She keeps it in his room as a reminder of why sheโs advocating for families impacted by drug addiction to receive support.
โHe has on his bucket list to save someoneโs life, and what 23-year-old thinks of that?” she said. “We know thatโs what heโs doing, his story is saving lives.”
Dalton has been recognized by Governor Josh Stein for the work sheโs doing. Next month, she will meet with North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson to talk about more ways to combat the opioid and fentanyl crisis.
Contact Siobhan Riley at sriley@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook and X.