Heroin's Puppet -Amy (and her disease)

Amy Caruso was a junior in the nursing program at Boston College and seemed to have everything going for her—brains, beauty, athleticism, career goals, a loving family, and many wonderful friends. But in November of 2009, she admitted she was a heroin addict and voluntarily entered treatment. Five weeks later, she died from an overdose at the treatment facility on the day after Christmas, weeks shy of her twenty-first birthday. Melissa Weiksnar wrote Heroin's Puppet so parents, educators, clinicians, and young people can learn from her daughter's six-year battle with substances, especially from the journals Amy wrote while in rehab.

Amy Caruso was a junior in the nursing program at Boston College and seemed to have everything going for her—brains, beauty, athleticism, career goals, a loving family, and many wonderful friends. But in November of 2009, she admitted she was a heroin addict and voluntarily entered treatment. Five weeks later, she died from an overdose at the treatment facility on the day after Christmas, weeks shy of her twenty-first birthday. Melissa Weiksnar wrote Heroin's Puppet so parents, educators, clinicians, and young people can learn from her daughter's six-year battle with substances, especially from the journals Amy wrote while in rehab.

Melissa Weiksnar attended Wellesley College and is a graduate of MIT, Harvard Business School, and the University of Houston. After twenty years in the high-technology industry, she changed careers to high school teaching. Since Amy died, Melissa has been telling Amy’s story to school, college, community, and religious groups to help others understand how addiction is an equal opportunity disease. She and her husband have two older children and live in Massachusetts.