Angela Kennecke: Newspaper presenter tells personal story of opioid loss in the air

The day Angela Kennecke, news anchor, learned that her daughter had died from an overdose of fentanyl, she was working on a story about the opioid epidemic. "I got a frantic call from his father, saying," I think Emily is OD. You must come here now. "I can not even describe to you how it is to hear these words," Kennecke said.

Kennecke, a survey reporter with CBS affiliate in South Dakota, KELO, has been covering the opioid crisis for about 10 years. She lost her daughter to the epidemic about four months ago and when she returned to work earlier this week, she shared her personal story with KELO viewers in the hope that this could save other lives. On Friday, she spoke to "CBS This Morning" about her mission to end the stigma of opioid addiction and why she felt compelled to share her story.

"I thought I could let this loss, this devastation destroy me, or that I could do something about it.In my career, I asked so many parents to talk to me and only to the mourners who had horrible and tragic things happen to them … and I thought, I have to talk about it, I have the obligation to talk about it, the first reason why I talk about it is to erase the stigma that surrounds addiction, especially the use of heroin, opioids, "said Kennecke's" CBS This Morning "on Friday.

The number of Americans dying from a drug overdose is increasing dramatically. The CDC estimates that overdoses killed more than 72,000 people last year and became the leading cause of death among Americans under 50 years of age. Emily battled drug addiction for over a year, though Kennecke was unaware that the drug was heroin. She says that she tried to get her daughter treatment, but was too late.

"It was the most shocking thing for me." Needles. "A middle-class, privileged child, you know all these opportunities," Kennecke said. "I feel so compelled to let everyone know that what happened to my daughter can happen to you, can happen to your child."

"I knew my daughter had a problem, that day we planned an intervention, I did not know what she was using, and I think we just need a lot more awareness. much more at the place of judgment. " , compassion. And I try to do what I can to make changes in my own community at home to help people get the help they need. And that's all I can do with that. "

Kennecke spoke to his daughter for the last time on Mother's Day. His message to parents: "Trust your instincts."

"I had to walk very hard between trying to help her, trying to talk to her and away or push her away, so I always tried to approach her with love," she said. she said. "We were working to get help, I did not get there in time."

For more information on the foundation, Kennecke started working at Emily's Hope.