ANTHONY DAOUD

Anthony Daoud was a man whose life mattered, whose love and light touched countless hearts. He was kind, loving, smart, and handsome—a son, a brother, an uncle, and a friend who was deeply cherished by all who knew him.

Born with a slight cleft lip, Anthony’s journey began with courage. His mother remembers those early days:
“We had to feed him with a syringe because he couldn’t drink out of a bottle correctly. Having never even heard of cleft lip back then, we were sad for him. He was able to undergo surgery at a few months old. I remember the nurses putting him in a red wagon and carting him off to the operating room. He was already given anesthesia, so he was out. It was scary watching him as a baby go in there and us having to wait. Luckily, all went well, and he came home the same day.”

That resilience carried Anthony through life. He was a happy child with a great attitude, growing into a young man with a strong work ethic and a passion for connecting with others. At 16, he began working, mostly in fast food, and later spent two years overseas learning about his heritage and becoming fluent in another language.

But like so many others, Anthony’s path was forever altered when drugs entered his life. His family shares the heartbreak of his struggle:
“At some point, drugs came into his life, and everything changed. He suffered depression and looked to doctors for medication. When the doctors didn’t want to give him anymore, he turned to the street. The need was so bad he became a totally different person. He did try to help himself and did so well in rehab and afterward, but the story always ended with relapse. From time to time, we could see our Anthony as we all knew him.”

Anthony fought hard against the disease of addiction. Even as he battled, he continued to work, often holding two jobs, and he poured his love into his family, especially his nieces and nephews, who adored him.

On December 27, 2021, Anthony passed away peacefully in his sleep, a victim of the devastating fentanyl epidemic. His mother recalls:
“When we followed behind the hearse, I could see his coffin and thought back to when he was a baby and they took him into the operating room and the doors closed. This time, when they closed the grave he was laid to rest in, he wouldn’t be coming back fixed up and fine. He would never be coming back. Now all we have are memories, and they need to be kept alive.”

The family’s message is clear:
“Drugs have not only killed our son but have devastated our entire family. Fentanyl was the final straw for him. He fell asleep, and everyone was left with the pain. Fentanyl is poison and needs to be stopped because I’m sure all the families lost to this poison go through the same thing, and that’s too much suffering for so many families in the U.S. to bear. The most important thing to know about Anthony is that he mattered, he was loved, and he is deeply missed. Drugs do not define who my son was. He made mistakes, but he was still a good man.”

Anthony Daoud was more than his struggles. He was love, laughter, and light, and his memory will forever be a reminder of the beauty he brought to this world.