According to Hockeybuzz’s Bob Duff, Red Wings play-by-play announcer Ken Daniels’ ex-wife testified before a congressional committee recently to discuss her son Jamie’s passing due to opioid addiction:
“December 7, 2016 will forever be the most difficult day for all of us,” Lisa Daniels told Congress. “That is the day we found out our beautiful son Jamie had died. Rumors surrounding his death circulated throughout our community, but Jamie’s story is not what anyone expected.”
Ken Daniels has willingly shared his son’s tragic tale with the public in the hopes that it will perhaps save the life of someone else who is struggling with addiction. Ken opened up about the tragedy via an E:60 documentary on ESPN and he and Lisa have formed the Jamie Daniels Foundation. Ken makes speaking appearances to tell their story and also utilizes the book we wrote together, If These Walls Could Talk: Detroit Red Wings as a fundraiser and a way to increase awareness of the evils not only of opioid addiction, but also to reveal the cottage industry that has developed to prey on the vulnerability of those battling to beat addiction.
Lisa Daniels spoke of how many times they watched Jamie relapse in his addiction to opioids, and how there seemed to be little in place in the way of aftercare for addicts seeking to kick the habit.
“We finally found help from a psychologist in Michigan, who at Jamie’s lowest point recommended he move to an inpatient treatment center in Florida,” Lisa explained. “After spending 10 days in the hospital in Michigan going through detox, where they weaned him off all the medication he was taking, less than 24 hours later he was on a plane to Florida.”
Duff continues, and again, this is a hard subject to discuss, but it’s very important as so many regular people suffer from opioid addiction.
