Southern Charm’s Olivia Flowers Reveals Brother’s Cause of Death _ E! News

Transcript

00:00 Olivia Flowers is opening up about her brother's unexpected death.

00:05 According to the Southern Charm Star, the coroner ruled that 32-year-old Connor Flowers

00:11 died from an accidental overdose of fentanyl on January 30th, years after being prescribed

00:18 opioids to treat chronic pain stemming from a long-time battle with Lyme disease.

00:24 In an interview published November 1st, Olivia tells People,

00:28 "My brother hated talking about his illness. So many people, even in his close circle,

00:33 didn't know about his Lyme." The reality star says debilitating symptoms

00:39 first surfaced when he was 15 and that, quote, "Connor was just told over and over, 'It's all

00:45 in your head. You're fine,' and was given painkillers and medicine for his associated anxiety."

00:52 Olivia continues, "He started depending at a very young age on this prescription medicine

00:57 to feel normal." The Bravo personality says Connor became addicted, and when he finally

01:03 found a specialist who could help him with his illness, quote, "Not only was he getting

01:08 treatment for Lyme, but he was also in rehab dealing with getting off this medicine."

01:14 Nobody wanted to get better more than Connor did, but for years, he was just in and out of

01:19 rehab trying so hard to get on the other side of this. Olivia adds, "People, when they hear

01:25 words like 'rehab' or 'drugs,' they assume the worst, but these weren't substances he turned to

01:31 for partying. This was medicine. This is what made him feel normal." In fact, she notes Connor was,

01:37 quote, "completely clean" just weeks before his death, when her family traveled to Arizona to

01:43 visit him at the wellness center where he was staying. But in late January, one week before

01:49 his 33rd birthday, her brother never showed up to dinner at their family's home in South Carolina.

01:56 She explains that Connor had a relapse that turned fatal. "So again, to hear he died of a

02:02 fentanyl overdose, there's immediately going to be this assumption that he was partying. Connor

02:07 wasn't like that. This was his means to survive." Calling the loss heartbreaking, Olivia concludes,

02:14 "There are these holes in the healthcare system, and my brother fell into one."

02:20 "I'm just so grateful for Connor's death. I'm so grateful for his recovery. I'm so grateful for his family."

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