Mother to speak of daughter’s death at anti-heroin rally
After battling drug addiction, Burgettstown graduate Gabrielle Bruno ended her life Jan. 13, 2015, at 23.
April Dugas is shown holding her daughter, Gabrielle Bruno, in this undated photo.
April Dugas turned 54 Friday. Instead of celebrating the way she would like – with a cake made by her daughter, proclaiming yet another “40th” birthday – the Burgettstown resident settled for memories.
Dugas’ daughter, Gabrielle Bruno, died Jan. 13, 2015, of a gunshot wound to the head. Four letters she left for loved ones spoke of pain the 23-year-old kept hidden.
“All along, I kind of suspected, but had been in denial,” Dugas said. “Gabby was in dance, sports. We always tried to do the right things (as parents.) We taught her right from wrong. We’re not the type of people who do heroin. … She would never admit to it.”
Only after Bruno’s death did Dugas piece together the story of her daughter’s spiral into prescription drug and heroin use.
Dugas and Bruno’s father encouraged their then-teenage daughter to get help for an eating disorder, but because of Pennsylvania law, they could not force her when she refused. Bruno switched schools twice, which Dugas now believes was her way to escape the aftermath of a sexual assault that occurred when she was 14.
“Everybody knew, but there was a code of silence,” Dugas said. “I had no idea until after her death.”
Dugas said Bruno addressed the incident in the letters she left behind.
“When I read that … I was mortified that this occurred and nobody ever came to me,” Dugas said. “Here it is 10 years later, and it just astounds me that I wasn’t told. I’m shaking and trembling, thinking that my daughter … No wonder she was so traumatized.”
Bruno got into trouble for having fights at school and what Dugas called “erratic behavior.” Dugas said her daughter became involved with a boy from another school district who was into drugs, but Bruno assured her parents she didn’t have a problem.
Once she graduated from Burgettstown in 2010, Bruno seemed to be making progress. She attended college and was three credits shy of earning a degree in criminal justice. She wanted to be a lawyer.
Then, Bruno started to have problems with her boyfriend. Dugas talked her through it, but she could see her daughter was distraught.
Four days after the couple broke up, Bruno was found dead in her apartment.
“This pain is just unspeakable, and if I can help other parents who are struggling, who might not know the signs or think that maybe their children might have a problem … There is no shame in talking with your kids,” Dugas said. “Because it’s either get help or the alternative.”
Dugas is one of 12 speakers scheduled for the fifth Fight Against Heroin March and Rally noon to 3 p.m. May 7 at Washington High School.
Dugas said her goal is to get parents out of denial and get their children into treatment. She also will encourage victims of sexual abuse to speak out, bring attention to bullying and create laws that would help parents get treatment for their children.
“Society has to change as a whole,” she said. “One of the ways is to destigmatize addiction. You don’t just decide, ‘Hey, I think I’ll become an addict.’ There’s an underlying pain they want to numb. And it’s not just heroin or prescription pain pills. It’s anything that can change the wiring in your brain to numb. Kids just think it’s harmless, and it’s not. It becomes an addiction.”
For information, visit the Facebook page: The Fight Against Heroin March and Rally.