Sean P. Efford

1986 – 2006

A Beautiful Young Man Whose Warmth and Kindness Live On…

His friends describe him as a kind, warm hearted, full of energy, always smiling, and a very silly young man.  They also said that whenever Sean walked into a room that he had the ability lighting up the room because he was full of life and energy!  He loved his dad, his mom, and his sister very much.  He had a very special bond with his great grandma Efford and his great aunt Charlene whom also up in heaven with him.  A warm hug from Sean was just another way that he showed his affection to his family and friends! 

Sean, a natural athlete…

Sean started skiing at the age of three.  When we saw his natural talent as an athlete, dad and mom started signing him up with all kinds of team sports including soccer, baseball, basketball, karate, and hockey.  We found out that he truly loved the snow and ice!  He concentrated on being a good hockey player.  He played hockey for his high school and proud to played in a travel team for his home state.  He later found love in snowboarding, and he was an awesome snowboarder! 

Sean’s work and dreams…

Sean was 19 and was almost 20 years old and was becoming a man. 

It was obvious because he was concentrating hard by working and attending school at the same time before his death.  He wanted to have a successful career.  He also wanted to get married and have children, but he wanted to make sure he had his career first so he can provide well for his future family.  Sean was a good worker and was great in what he did at work.  He was always getting recognitions and great remarks from his supervisors.  Whenever he won or received a job well done prizes for doing great works, he would always give these prizes to his mother. 

His death from opiods (OxyContin)…

Throughout Sean’s life, he was always warned never to trust strangers and never to let anyone pressure him into drinking alcohol and taking drugs.  Peer pressure can be a hard thing for teenagers to resist.  After learning that underage drinking and marijuana were the wrong choices, he avoided them.  But most people have never heard of prescription drugs being used by teenagers for recreational use.  Before 2006, “pharming” was never heard of by me.  As a parent, I had no clue that teenagers often think that these drugs are safe because they’re “just prescriptions.”  While visiting friends, Sean used prescription drug for recreational use, and it killed him.  Signs and symptoms of overdosing from OxyContin were occurring, and one of those signs was vomiting.  My beautiful son who was full of life and dreams died on February 27, 2006, and he was only 19 years old. 

 Toxicology report showed opiods was the caused of death.  The report also showed he had no alcohol, no marijuana, or no other illegal drugs in his system.  He had crushed one and a half of OxyContin pills and snorted the drug.  While Sean was vomiting-one of the signs of overdosing-not one person quickly called for help. 

If you are around someone who is overdosing, don’t wait!  Call for help immediately!  Get over being scared; worry about the person who may die.  Remember, friends don’t let friends die. 

Sean made the wrong decision by using OxyContin for recreational use, but he deserved to know the dangers and deserved the help he needed while overdosing from OxyContin.     

An awareness campaign about the dangerous prescription pharming is being done to honor Sean as well as to warn to save lives. 

By Sean’s Mom (Lorna Efford)