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An Ohio man’s tragic and heartbreaking Facebook post about his daughter’s Christmas Eve heroin overdose death has gone viral. Tim Sherman of Eastlake, Ohio, wrote on Facebook that his daughter, Karisten Lyn Sherman, 23, was found dead of a heroin overdose on December 24. Tim said that he had tried to help his daughter to kick her habit and attended Narcotics Anonymous meetings with her.
Tim Sherman said that he had told his daughter that he would “be the one to zip you up” in a body bag unless Karisten “kicked the dragon for good.” Tim says he wrote the post as a warning to those who have loved ones battling drug addiction amid the opioid epidemic that is sweeping across the United States.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Tim Sherman Says When He Got the Tragic News He Fell to His Knees & ‘Began to Cry Like a Baby’
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Facebook/Karisten Lyn Sherman
Tim Sherman wrote that he got a call from an Eastlake cop on just before 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve. After hearing the news, Tim said that he fell to his knees in the snow and that he “When I saw her body) I was told I couldn’t touch my daughter in case there was any lethal powder still on her. I ask for gloves and glove up cause I’ll be damned if I’m not going to help my daughter One last time or hug her and let her know I Love her … Well, I kept my word and spread the bag out and carefully placed her in it to say goodbye to her so they can find out what it was that she took. I zipped her up in her body bag and helped them carefully place her on the cot.” Tim says that his daughter was blue in the face and had blood coming out of her nose. Tim said that his daughter’s fists were clenched as if she was “grasping so tight at what looked like she was trying to grab life back in her.”
He adds, “I just want all of you to know that no matter who you are or what you do or how perfect you think someone is, that this heroin shit can come into anybody’s life and destroy it. Do not be blind to this.” Throughout the post, Tim refers to his daughter as “Tigger.”
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2. Just Over a Week Before Her Death, Karisten Said She Was in a Relationship With a New Man
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Facebook/Karisten Lyn Sherman
Karisten was a native of West Plains, Missouri, where she was born on April 21, 1994. On December 16, Karisten wrote on Facebook that she was now in relationship with a man named Joseph Walker. Posts on his page indicated that he has a daughter.
3. Tim Sherman Is a Former Marine Who Is a Toys for Tots Administrator
Facebook/Karisten Lyn Sherman
Tim Sherman is the co-ordinator for Toys for Tots in the Eastlake-area. Tim runs the charity as for the local U.S. Marine Corps Reserves. In 2013, Tim Sherman told the Willoughby New Herald that his organization had handed out 13,000 toys in the local area.
4. Karisten Is Being Mourned by Friends as Well as Strangers on Social Media
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Facebook/Karisten Lyn Sherman
At the time of writing, Tim Sherman’s Facebook post has been shared nearly 10,000 times. According to Karisten’s obituary, her funeral will be held at Davis-Babcock Funeraly home in Willoughby, Ohio, on December 30 at 10 a.m.
5. Ohio Has the 2nd Most Drug Overdoses in the Country
According to statistics, only West Virginia has more drug overdose deaths than Ohio. Cincinnati.com reports that “fentanyl and related potent opioids were involved in more than half of the 4,050 drug overdose deaths in Ohio.” In 2012, there were a little over 600 heroin overdose deaths in Ohio. By 2016, that number had risen to nearly 2,400.
