Nearly a year after Juice WRLD‘s death at 21, his mom, Carmela Wallace, is now opening up about her late son’s struggles with drugs and how his struggles might be able to help others.

She sat down ABC 7 Chicago on October 27 for a wide ranging interview.

Her words below:

“It was devastating. But, one thing I decided early on was that I was not going to hide the fact that he died from a drug overdose. I did not want to keep that a secret because there are a lot of people who deal with that every day.”

“I said, ‘If you have anxiety, then you need to get medicated properly for it instead of medicating yourself. I talked to him about it. I told him my biggest fear was him overdosing on the stuff. That’s why I made the decision I have to talk about it with other people. I can’t keep that as a secret.” 

As a result of her son’s passing, Wallace is continuing Juice WRLD’s legacy by creating the Live Free 999 Foundation, which aims to help young people dealing with mental illness and drug addiction.

Watch her full interview below:

Your thoughts?

[Photo Credit: YouTube]