The haunting image was posted on Facebook for all to see. It was a picture of Mike Stollings’ son, 20-year-old Jeramie Ratliff. Only this was no ordinary picture; in the photograph, Jeramie Ratliff is lying on a table in a funeral home, covered up to his neck in a blanket. Jeramie recently overdosed from dextromethorphan– a cough suppressant. He leaves behind a 10-month-old son and a devastated family.
Mike’s haunting picture was posted with a long caption, imploring readers to think twice before using drugs– even drugs that seems as harmless as cough medicine. “Let’s take another look at how fun drugs are”, he told his readers. Mike then went on to describe in graphic detail Jeramie’s condition before the funeral home cleaned him up; he had blood coming out from his ears and foam in his mouth.
Jeramie, Mike said, thought he had his drug habit under control. He thought he knew how much was too much, but he obviously did not. Mike’s words spoke of the pain of never being able to go dirt bike riding with Jeramie again.
He spoke of how his infant son will never know his father and will never get to experience father-son activities like camping with Jeramie. Mike also implored readers to reach out to those who are struggling emotionally. He encouraged readers to help those struggling deal with their difficulties in healthy ways instead of turning to drugs as an escape so they’d never have to know his anguish.