09/17/2026
Sharing this story from two years ago.
We had a series titled, "I still have a story to tell" where families of people who have died tell their story. We would love to continue to do this. If you want your love one featured just send us a message with their story.
This is a series where we feature the lives of people who have died, whether it be from a drug overdose, a car wreck, su***de, unsafe sleeping conditions, etc. These deaths are usually a preventable death, and our hope is that by the public seeing the stories of people who have died it will make them realize the dangers of drugs, driving under the influence, or the importance of mental health checks.
So what can you do?
Send us a photo of your loved one who has died, along with their story. Include their name, age, how they died, what they loved, and maybe big things they have missed out on because of the decisions they or someone else made. Also include any other information you may want the public to know.
Our office is doing what we can to reach the community, but it is going to take everyone to make a difference.
Once these start coming in we will begin featuring them on our page so people can start seeing the faces that are dying each and everyday too soon.
"I still have a story to tell..."
Told by Faith Cliburn, widow
Ryan Mahaffey
June 7, 2017
Age 36
Son to an addict, I guess you could say it was in his blood. He just chose a different poison.
Ryan and I were high school sweethearts. His addiction story really starts there…I would learn of this years later. He experimented with drugs, but managed to escape the claws of addiction…just not all the other trouble that drug-induced impaired judgement would lead him to…he was arrested on his 18th birthday for his involvement in a burglary.
Shortly after his release, we would find out we were expecting our first child. Ryan took a job working third shift at a local plant. I remember bringing him dinner one night and sitting outside the gate telling him I didn’t want my son to have a different last name than mine. We decided to get married and tied the knot when I was seven-months pregnant. I would drive to that same plant the morning I went into labor…one day after moving into our brand-new house! Fast forward a couple of years and we welcomed a daughter!
Happiness would fade within that year.
Ryan started drinking and our marriage became rocky. He wasn’t being the partner or parent that he needed to be. Drugs were reintroduced into his life…cocaine… “to help him stay awake for third shift”. As Ryan would describe to me, that lost its punch so he’d move on to harder drugs…stronger and more…to maintain his high.
Fentanyl was in the mix. Cancer patients turned into dealers…selling valid prescription fentanyl to seekers. It blows my mind…a naive girl who thought drugs only existed in big cities…only to find that they were in MY city, MY home, MY husband. And dealers look like you and me…not the bad guys depicted in the movies!
M**h and opioids became his drugs of choice. Crime, violence, and infidelity went hand-in-hand.
We parted ways…filed for divorce…but just couldn’t pull the trigger. Turns out…he couldn’t light a fuse either. After a binge, Ryan parked in a public parking lot and was awakened by police knocking on his car window. A homemade bomb was in his vehicle… he had intended to “send a message” to someone who had hurt one of his family members, but as is common amongst addicts, he wasn’t reliable. The bomb, along with drugs and paraphernalia, was found in his vehicle. He would be arrested and yet another birthday was spent in jail.
His mom, the kids, and I would visit. And I would pick him up to bring him home when he managed to escape a hard sentence in exchange for a mental health program. This was part of a huge miracle and is a story that I can’t brush over.
Ryan’s mother took him to church as a child but he would begin his life through salvation shortly after his 18th birthday. Satan chases hard after those that threaten him. He rode Ryan hard, but never to the point of him forgetting that the power of Jesus lived within him. Even in the depths of addiction he would cry out to Jesus…the prodigal son was ready to come home.
While in the holding cell he prayed that he would be placed with others who knew and loved Jesus. That prayer was answered and he began attending a Bible study within his cell. The leader was moved to another cell to prepare for release. Ryan stepped up and began leading Bible study. He’d be accused of having “jailhouse religion”, but it didn’t take long for his cellmates to realize that he was the real deal. A light in a dark place! What was originally just a small group turned into the entire cell and others in neighboring cells would lean in hungry for the Word. Ryan lead sinners to Christ in a dirty jail cell!
Perhaps the biggest miracle of all…he stopped using, cold turkey, without even the slightest withdrawal symptom!
One morning he got up with a song in his heart, “This is the day, that the Lord has made”. That would be the day that he was led into a room to see his dad, a man whom he hated, who he hadn’t seen in over a decade after his imprisonment. A miracle happened that day; love for his father filled his heart and they caught up on lost time.
Ryan would go on to live a Christ-like life for over ten years. If you met him in that time, you’d never believe his former life.
Until one day…
Hurt on the job, he used his ability to spot a user to seek out pain medication. He couldn’t go the traditional route, he thought, because I worked for the local hospital, and they had record of his past addiction. Guilt and shame would agonize him. He would use again to hush those voices.
And the cycle began.
I knew something was different. I asked over and over and each time he denied it eventually leaving me to question my sanity. He got sloppy and I found evidence that he could no longer deny.
Here we are AGAIN.
Tired of broken promises, unanswered phone calls, and heartache…I gave Ryan an ultimatum…get help or get out! He chose the latter…initially. We’d go on to have sporadic contact. I wasn’t aware of his whereabouts.
Eventually, tired of running, he turned to me for help. I drove him to an inpatient rehab five hours away. We listened to a playlist our kids had curated…a mix of Christian music and just some songs they liked. He stalled along the way…I now know he’d use while in the restroom at repeated stops. He stalled so much that we stopped to get a hotel so we wouldn’t waste one of our insurance allotted benefit days for just a few hours of stay. I woke up to find him sleeping at the hotel desk where he likely passed out after using…foreshadowing.
The following day, just minutes from our destination, he gulped down a concoction of pills he had hidden in a medication bottle. His last hoorah, I suppose. I stayed with him during the onboarding process, but I was eager to get back home to the kids. Ryan left rehab against medical advice - fully aware that he was on the verge of a heart attack if he didn’t seek immediate help - shortly after I made the five-hour commute back home.
A week later, I would get a call while at work. Surrounded by my manager, director, and executive…I was informed by the coroner that Ryan had passed from an overdose. Fentanyl, M**h, and opioids to blame…at a desk in a hotel room.
I was devastated, but also had an unexplainable peace. I knew he was in the presence of Jesus as he drew his final breath. Sin no longer separated him. He was no longer running. No longer in pain. No longer agonized by guilt and shame. No longer in the bo***ge of addiction. Death was his healing.
Ryan continues to impact those left behind. He influenced our children’s salvation…and mine. Our children have a heart for those with afflictions. Through his teaching, they seek to understand why they believe what they believe…not just go with that’s how they were told or taught. They carry his torch…his name…and many of his physical attributes. He is with us through them.
I have no doubt Ryan hand selected my perfect little niece from Heaven and sent her here to bring healing to my heart. His little brother credits him for guiding him through his own addiction recovery. I’ve had the honor of presenting to local schools about the danger of drugs. I have had countless conversations with women who stand alongside their partner who is dealing with addiction.
He died too soon, but not in vain. I will continue to tell of his story…all of my days.
Thank you to Upstate Crime Alerts for facilitating the opportunity to share Ryan’s story. Thank you to my sister for encouraging me to do so. Thank you to my husband for loving me through my brokenness and not being threatened by my continued love for Ryan.
This is our story too…
