There’s a heart-wrenching statistic that 134 people die per day from opioid addiction. We hear and see it so often that, dare I say, we’ve almost become desensitized to the alarming fact.

It’s lives we’re talking about. Human lives. One is one too many. Each victim still has so much life left to live. 

Take Kurt Stapleton, for example. He’s one of the fortunate survivors of opioid use disorder that evaded the ticking time bomb of death. 

His story — one of failure, then comeback, then triumph — will warm your heart. It goes something like this…

Stapleton learned to crochet in prison.

“I was incarcerated for three and a half years for two counts of armed robbery. I was addicted to painkillers,” he said in a recent news interview. “I lost my job and hit rock bottom. I decided to steal pills from a pharmacy.”

Stapleton now works a full-time job and crochets hats for cancer patients in his free time.

Wendy Oren, a patient in Madison, Wis., being treated for ovarian cancer, wears one of Stapleton’s hats. 

“You can’t put it into words — what someone thinks is the littlest thing. And for him to not even know me, to make sure I got a hat, it was just a wonderful feeling,” Oren said in an article published by CNN. “I felt supported and loved.” 

Stapleton has crocheted about 50 hats in the last month for cancer patients all over the world. He’s also raised money to fill the hats with thoughtful necessities for a person undergoing chemo therapy, like candy, socks, lotion, lip balm and word puzzles.

“I have changed my life and become a better person,” Stapleton told his local newspaper. “I now have a 3-year-old son who I am trying to lead by example. In 2006, my father passed away from cancer. This is kind of my way of helping him and helping others because I wasn’t able to do anything for him.”

If you or a loved one are experiencing opioid use disorder, you have so much life left to live; a world who needs the gift of your talents. Please contact us at New Season if you believe we can help you make a triumphant comeback to take back your life and give back to others.