The Bobby Holler Story
A Mothers Story:
Bobby was a very bright and
exciting person, he was very family oriented, loved and talked about his family
all the time. He had a wonderful
relationship with his sister, Amy and his brother Gary.
Included his brother and sister in everything he did.
Amy and Gary have wonderful memories of Bobby, that will be in their
hearts forever!!!!
Mom and Dad also had a wonderful
relationship with Bobby. We were
open with him and he was with us. Still
at 16 his favorite thing to do was watch the Lion King, he loved the whole
family together, and sometimes he would love to include his friends in our
family time. Which we thought was
great, because we got to know his friends, so it was not unusual to have a
couple extra kids over for dinner.
Life was going great for the Holler
family, Bobby going to be a senior looking forward to graduation, wanting to go
to school to be a chef, looking forward to life.
Had a girlfriend, whom he loved very much.
And on April 15, 1995, he died at home in his bedroom, with the whole
family sleeping. We were awakened
by Amy, who was awakened from Bobby's friend, saying Bobby wasn’t breathing or
moving, he won’t wake up. I ran
to his room and my lovely son was gone ~ dead from inhaling air freshener, the
first time he tried it!!!
That hell is never going to go
away, it is with you for the rest of your life, everyday, every hour, every
minute!!! Bobby's whole family,
grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends are also struggling to live
with his death, because none of us can believe he would even try inhalants!!!!
After his death, his friends would say “Mrs. Holler I can’t believe
Bobby would do something like that, not Bobby!!”
Bobby was educated about drugs and
alcohol, but wasn’t educated about inhalants.
If he was, I know in my heart he would have not tried it!!!! That is why I have educated myself on inhalants and started
the “Bobby Holler Foundation Huffing Awareness Campaign”,
I go to schools, parents groups, media, and every where I can to get the
public educated of the deadly affects of inhalants. And to stress you can die even the first time!!!!
If not the first, the fifth, tenth, twentieth, hundredth time you try
inhaling!
The Bobby Holler Foundation is my
mission in life to make the public aware of inhalants and what they can do to a
child or a teen.
Peer pressure is what starts this
deadly practice, so I also stress for kids to make the right choices, because it
is the child's choice to use inhalants! But
I feel if they knew the effects, kids would make the right choice.
