Nana was 15 years old when his mother found OxyContin pills in his room. That does not mean he started taking pills when he was 15. He could have began consuming pills when he was younger, but nobody in his family detected it.

When Nana was 13 years old, he signed up for basketball in his school. He was six feet tall. Then he had an injury with some torn ligaments in his ankle. His doctor prescribed him OxyContin for painkiller. (Gyasi, p. 140)

That was the beginning of the end.

What were Nan’s symptoms of addiction?

He was sleepy most of the time. His eyes had a dreamy look when he was awake. He vomited often. His body shook. Sometimes he passed motion in his pants. His mom, TBM, would bathe him and wash sweat, vomit and shit off his body.

TBM found a rehab place in Nashville and had Nana checked in. His stay was 30 days. It is typical to read that one stay may not be enough.

“Nana relapsed just fourteen hours after leaving rehab. “

(Gyasi, p. 167)

Gifty and her mom set a routine to search for Nana if he didn’t return home. They let 2 days pass before they got into their car to drive around to search for Nana. If they couldn’t find him in 4 days, they would make a police report. That happened once.

Then one night, at 9 pm, their local police arrived to tell them that they found Nana dead in the parking lot of a Starbucks outlet. He overdosed on heroin. (Gyasi, p. 180)

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