for The Denver Post: How one Colorado overdose victim fell through the cracks by José A. Alvarado Jr.

Media

for The Denver Post: How one Colorado overdose victim fell through the cracks

josé a. alvarado jr.

Jun 23, 2024

Location: Long Island, New York

Summary

More than 1,600 people died of overdoses in Colorado last year. This is Rachel Skanron’s story.

Even as she lay on a friend’s floor in Wheat Ridge, unconscious from the effects of the drugs she’d taken, Rachel Skanron still had people who believed she could overcome her addictions — if only she could find the right help.

Her father, living on the other side of the international date line, wouldn’t step back and wait for her to hit rock bottom. A former boyfriend in New York had sent her a plane ticket to get her away from the people she used drugs with. And a childhood friend was ready to talk her through any crises, and to fly out to Denver to help if necessary.

They all expected a long road ahead, since Rachel already had spent years cycling through treatment and homelessness. But they remembered the creative, nurturing person they’d known before methamphetamine and fentanyl took over her life, and they wanted her back.

But they’ll never get her back. Rachel died May 3 on that friend’s floor at the age of 34, one of the more than 1,600 people in Colorado lost to drug overdoses in 2023.

Her father, Rick Skanron, knew people could recover from addiction — he’d been there himself. The difference with Rachel, he said, was that her mental health afflictions sapped her of the ability to believe her life could change and the motivation to get better.

“There is nothing available that helps people with mental health issues get to the ‘want’ phase” of seeking recovery, he said.

Photographed for The Denver Post, with words by Meg Wingerter

“I don’t think she was a lost cause”: How one Colorado overdose victim fell through the cracks
The Denver Post is telling Rachel Skanron’s story after extensive interviews with her friends and parents, and a review of medical records shared by her father, to show how people battling addictio…
Denverpost.com

942

José A. Alvarado Jr.

More than 1,600 people died of overdoses in Colorado last year. This is Rachel Skanron’s story.

Also by José A. Alvarado Jr. —

for NPR: This Harlem pastor fights mental health stigma — and shares his own struggles

for NPR: This Black church is facing the teen mental health crisis head on

for The New York Times: A Black Studies Curriculum Is (Defiantly) Rolling Out in New York City

for The New York Times: How a Plan for Reparations Became a Debt Trap for Marijuana Retailers

for STAT News: What happens when a rare disease drug seems to work, but the health care system doesn’t?

for El Nuevo Dia: Mujer del Año 2024

for NPR: Cancer interrupted their school lives, but also set them on a mission

for NPR: In New York, immigration weighed heavily and divisively among immigrants themselves

for The New York Times: He Was One of New York’s Busiest Shoplifters. His Mother Was a Cop.”, The New York Times

for The New York Times: Home Sales in Flood Zones Are Booming. Here’s Why Buyers Take the Risk.

for The Wall Street Journal: The King of Risky Hometown Bonds Is Back

for The Wall Street Journal: The Office Therapist Will See You Now

for DVEIGHT: A Conversation with Ray Turner

for The New York Times: The U.S. Open Is Busier Than Ever. Some Fans Are Not Happy About It.

for The New York Times: The View From the Nosebleeds at the U.S. Open: Not Too Shabby

for STAT: A new drug offers a rare option for brain cancer treatment — and inspires hopes for more

for The New York Times: Elephants Arrive, So Humans Don’t Forget

for Bloomberg: Governor Kathy Hochul

for The New York Times: How Creators Are Facing Hateful Comments Head-On

for NYC Tourism: Watching Copa America with Fans at La Roja de Todos

for The New York Times: For Columbia and a Powerful Donor, Months of Talks and Millions at Risk

for Huff Post: How America’s Mental Health Crisis Became This Family’s Worst Nightmare

for Business Insider: I went to a food festival where Latina chefs shared their culinary journeys — and fed my Boricua soul

for Cultured Magazine: Cult 100