He died at Blanchard Valley Hospital three days earlier. He lived in McComb. He graduated from Findlay High School. He worked at Consolidated Biscuit Co. He loved the Detroit Red Wings. He was survived by parents, sister, grandparents and a nephew.
But a closer look shows Wolford was only 26. And memorials in his name were directed to Century Health Inc.
Indeed, something was very different: Wolford was the third Hancock County resident to die of a heroin overdose in the past two years.
His death followed a wave of unintentional drug overdose deaths in Hancock County. The number tripled from three deaths in 2005 to nine deaths in 2009, according to new statistics from the Ohio Department of Health.
(Despite the increase, Hancock County still has fewer drug overdose deaths than similar-sized Erie, Ross and Scioto counties.)
Statewide, the Department of Health reported fatal overdoses have increased from about 300 in 1999, to 1,000 in 2005, to about 1,400 in 2009. That is more than a 300 percent increase over the 10 years.
This increase in deaths, the state said, can be largely attributed to prescription drug overdoses.
Of the deaths in 2009, about 40 percent, or 550, were because of prescription pain medications, the state said.
Half of the prescriptions taken each year are used improperly, according to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, a nonprofit organization devoted to medication error prevention and safe medication use, according to its website.
According to the group, improper use is caused by:
• Changes in prescribing practices for pain medication;
• Changes in marketing of medications directly to consumers;
• Over-medication and mixing medications;
• Substance abuse;
• Medications being used by people they are not prescribed for;
• Doctor shopping;
• Prescription fraud;
• Illegal online "pharmacies;"
• "Pill mills," places that distribute pain pills to people without a legitimate medical need, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration;
• Improper storage and disposal of medications.
Gov. John Kasich calls the problem "epidemic."
Last month, Kasich traveled to Scioto County, an area that has been particularly hard hit by these drugs, to announce additional resources to combat the problem.
In Scioto County last year, 9.7 million doses of prescription painkillers were dispensed, "123 doses for every man, woman and child in the county," Kasich said.
"It's just a monumental problem in this state," state Attorney General Mike DeWine said Thursday.
As a new state priority, other agencies, such as the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Organized Crime Investigations Commission, will be called in to help, DeWine said.
He charged the state medical board has not done its part to investigate physicians who illegally prescribe painkillers.
The board "has not been aggressive enough in this area. The medical board needs to lead ... to have some guts," he said.
"The key is to remove doctors who abuse the public trust they have. ...What we're looking at is the abuse," DeWine said.
In many counties, said House Speaker Bill Batchelder, R-Medina, prescription painkillers are "coins of the realm."
While prescription drug overdoses can be deadly, heroin is a proven killer, too.
Heroin overdoses accounted for about 20 percent, or 280, of Ohio's unintentional drug overdose deaths in 2009, the state said.
And it has claimed three young lives in Hancock County.
In addition to Wolford, who died of an accidental heroin and morphine overdose, Aaron Grotrian, 20, lost his life to heroin on Aug. 28, 2009, as did Taylor Akerman, 19, on Jan. 31, 2010.
"It's a tragedy that there is another death," said John Stanovich, who chairs the Hancock County Prescription and Opiate Abuse Task Force.
"This is still a significant problem in our community and we need to continue our efforts and maybe even step up our efforts a little bit," Stanovich said.
The task force is a collection of community leaders, elected officials and citizens who have charged themselves with reducing and preventing the spread of heroin and pain pill addiction.
The task force has asked for a $20,500 grant from Handbags That Help, a women's giving circle, to help combat the drug problem.
The money would go toward an "Ask the Expert" column in The Courier, DVDs to educate people, a consultant to develop lesson plans to educate teachers and students, and drug identification guides to be used in conjunction with "Street Smart" training.
During the training, law enforcement officers bring in samples of drugs to schools and explain to teachers how they are used and what they look like.
The Hancock County Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services board plans to provide $9,500 in matching funds to implement the task force's ideas. This money will be used to bring in speakers, host public forums and assist with public awareness of the drug problem, and to train professionals on the abuse issue.
Grant recipients will be announced in April, according to the task force.
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