Below Deck’s Captain Lee Rosbach Opens Up About His Late Son’s Opoid Addiction

This is heavy.

Below Deck‘s Captain Lee Rosbach and his wife Mary Anne went through a tragedy that no parents should have to endure- the loss of a child.

The couple’s youngest son, Joshua Rosbach, died from an accidental overdose in July 2019. The 42 years old had suffered a 20-year battle with addiction.

Raising Awareness:

During an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, that he made the decision to speak out about it his son’s addiction to raise awareness to the opioid crisis.

“I don’t think enough people are paying attention to it. They don’t realize that addicts aren’t the dregs of society,” he explained to host Ellen DeGeneres. “It crosses all social boundaries, it doesn’t make any difference how much money you have or you don’t have. It affects everybody.”

The Captain continued, “I don’t believe in the last two years I’ve talked with anyone that doesn’t know of someone personally that has paid a steep price for this opioid crisis we have, and nobody says anything about it. It’s the elephant in the room that nobody wants to confront. Somebody has to step up.”

Take one day at a time:

“The hole in you heart’s never going to go away. You can’t replace it with anything else,” he shared with Ellen’s audience. “We’re not generally constructed to bury our children. From the time you’re born, you know you grow old and your parents pass away. It’s not the other way around. And when that happens, it’s completely devastating. So, you deal with it. You hope that you develop better coping skills to get through it.”

“The hole in you heart’s never going to go away. You can’t replace it with anything else,” the Bravo personality continued. “We’re not generally constructed to bury our children. From the time you’re born, you know you grow old and your parents pass away. It’s not the other way around. And when that happens, it’s completely devastating. So, you deal with it. You hope that you develop better coping skills to get through it.”

Watch the interview for yourself:

 

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If you or someone you know is suffering from substance abuse, please call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357.

Clearly, Captain Lee is doing his part to stop the opioid crisis. Drop names of other reality tv stars that also contribute to important causes in the comments!