Susan Plattner’s son, Caleb Mehlman, spent most of his free time at Marsh Creek Skatepark in Raleigh. She said skateboarding was second nature for her son.
“At the age of three, I had a scooter, and he figured out how to push the handle down and turn it into a skateboard, and that was it,” Plattner said. “He was skating passionately ever since then.”
Skateboarding stole Caleb’s heart at a young age.
An accidental drug overdose stole his life.
He died on December 19, 2017. It was his 19th birthday.
“It was devastating, to say the least,” Plattner said. “He kept it real secretive, because I think he was ashamed that he was struggling. There’s such a stigma, you know, with addiction, that I think he wanted to try to figure it out himself, but it got away from him quickly.”
CDC data shows drug overdose deaths increase during the holiday season.
In North Carolina, CDC data from 2023 shows the highest rates of overdose deaths happening in December and January.
WRAL’s investigative documentary Crisis Next Door showed that fentanyl was often causing accidental overdose deaths in North Carolina, with victims’ loved ones saying they likely did not purposefully choose to take fentanyl and likely did not know it was in whatever drug that caused their death.
After several years after her son’s accidental overdose, Plattner decided to turn her grief into a gift for others.
Caleb Mehlman felt most at home at the skatepark.
Starting in 2020, she began collecting money to buy skateboards for kids in need for the holidays.
Every time she gave one away, she’d share her son’s story.
“The best thing is that on Christmas morning, a couple parents sent me pictures of their kids opening the gifts,” Plattner said. “To look at those pictures of these kids, it warmed my heart, and brought me to tears. I thought, this is what I gotta do. This is what we gotta do.”
Over the last five years, the donations grew.
This December, she raised more than $1,200 for skateboards, scooters and helmets. Community members even donated their own skateboards to the cause.
She donated them to the Boys and Girls Club of Wake County and to Neighbor to Neighbor in Raleigh.
“I thought, ‘I’m just going to do this because I want to give back,’ but I received so much back that I didn’t even imagine,” Plattner said. “People are thanking me, and I got to talk about Caleb, and people would share stories about their skateboarding and how much joy it’s brought to their life. And that is amazing.”