Lexi Wood Honors Presley Gerber After Model Dies at 27

Q: How did Presley Gerber suffer a suspected fatal overdose while inside a professional Los Angeles rehab facility meant to save him?

It is not yet publicly known how Presley Gerber obtained the substance or exactly how the overdose happened inside the rehab facility. What has been reported is that Gerber checked into Resolutions Living in Santa Monica at about 10 p.m. Saturday and was found unresponsive in the room where he had been sleeping the next morning. A law-enforcement source told NBC News he was “cold to the touch,” suggesting he had been dead for some time before staff discovered him. Santa Monica police responded to a possible overdose call around 9:35 a.m., and paramedics pronounced him dead at 9:45 a.m. Authorities are treating the death as a suspected overdose, but they have not said what drug was involved, whether it was prescribed medication or an illicit substance, or how it entered the facility. Police have also said there was no immediate sign of foul play. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has deferred the cause and manner of death pending toxicology and further testing, a process that can take weeks or months. So the key unresolved issue in your question remains exactly that: how an overdose could occur in a professional rehab setting. Until toxicology, witness interviews, and the facility investigation are complete, any explanation beyond the known facts would be speculation. What is established is that he had a long, public struggle with addiction and had entered treatment only hours before he was found dead.

Q: What hidden struggles remained for Cindy Crawford's son despite his brave public crusade to destigmatize addiction and mental health?

Despite his unusually candid advocacy, Presley Gerber appears to have still been battling severe, persistent addiction and mental-health problems in private as well as in public. Reports describe a long struggle with depression, panic attacks, substance abuse and repeated treatment efforts, including rehab stays, prescription medications and an ibogaine treatment in Mexico months before his death. People close to him and his own comments suggest the difficulties were not only chemical but deeply personal. He had described mental health as a “24/7 job,” said he had seen many psychiatrists, and spoke about needing clearer medical guidance while taking medications such as Valium, buprenorphine and Xanax. A source cited in later coverage also said he struggled with low self-esteem and accepting himself, indicating that emotional distress may have remained unresolved even as he tried to help others. His death at a rehab facility, now being investigated as a suspected overdose with the official cause still pending, underscores a hard reality experts often note: openness about addiction can reduce stigma, but it does not remove the medical dangers of relapse, withdrawal, medication complications or overdose. In Gerber’s case, the public message was one of honesty and hope, but the evidence suggests the hidden struggle was that recovery remained fragile, complicated and ongoing right up to the end.

3 articles · Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Sep 22

Lexi Wood posted an Instagram tribute to ex-boyfriend Presley Gerber, saying the 27-year-old model was "kind," "loving" and "courageous" after his death this week.
Wood said Gerber had fought hard through mental health and substance abuse struggles and had been open about that battle in hopes of helping other people.
Her post included photos and videos from their 2022 relationship and a handwritten note from Gerber that read, "I'm so proud of you ... I love you, Pres."
Charlotte D'Alessio, another former girlfriend, also mourned Gerber on social media, writing that he "deserved more time" after he died in a rehab facility.