Fatal Facts of Fentanyl
The Fatal Facts of Fentanyl is dedicated to raising awareness of the illicit fentanyl crisis hitting the USA. It is killing tens-of-thousands of people who suffer from substance abuse disorders and first-time users.
There are no boundaries. It is straight across the board with the number of deaths without any regard to race, sex, socio-economics, age, education, religious background, location. It is in every community within our country.
The fentanyl crisis is deadlier than ever before for various reasons. It is time to address the many issues surrounding this crisis. It is time to listen and learn from experts. It is time to hear the many stories from people who have lost their loved ones due to death by deception.
Change begins with each of us as individuals and collaboration with others towards this positive transformation. The goal is to save lives and families from this travesty.
Awareness and Education are the key.
Knowledge is Power.
Fatal Facts of Fentanyl
Matthews Voice
It can happen to anyone. My son was poisoned with a counterfeit Percocet that contained pure fentanyl.
We lost our amazing son, Matthew Thomas, at 20 years of age to fentanyl poisoning. He took what he thought was a Percocet and died moments later on the morning of 07/25/2020. Because of this tragic loss our family experienced, we want to do everything in our power to keep another family from suffering this way. That is why we created Matthew's Voice.
The mission of Matthew’s Voice is to educate teens and young adults about the dangers of fentanyl poisoning specifically, and drug use in general. In addition, to provide rehabilitation scholarships for individuals who lack financial means.
To achieve this mission, we will go around to local high schools and teen organizations. We will make this issue personal, giving teens and young adults a first hand account of the consequences that can come from drug use. We will also talk about the fentanyl epidemic, the dangers of drug use in general and the role social media plays in the availability and distribution of various drugs. Once we are able, we will also offer scholarships to teens and young adults for treatment in drug rehab programs.
The sky is the limit and we have big hopes and dreams for this organization. Matthew may not be here to warn our youth of the dangers of drug use, but through Matthew's Voice, his legacy will live on and he will save lives. We will shout to the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains and beyond to be sure Matthew's Voice is heard.
The Fatal Facts of Fentanyl podcast is dedicated to raising Awareness to the illicit FENTANYL crisis hitting the USA.
The goal is to SAVE LIVES and families from this travesty.
Awareness and Education are the Key.
Knowledge is Power!
The Fatal Facts of Fentanyl podcast is dedicated to raising Awareness to the illicit FENTANYL crisis hitting the USA.
The goal is to SAVE LIVES and families from this travesty.
Awareness and Education are the Key.
Knowledge is Power!
The shock of getting a phone call stating that your son is unresponsive and has passed away is an excruciating pain like no other ever imagined. Matthew was out of town visiting his friends and girlfriend. He was given a Percocet at a party. Wendy his mother. He was given a Percocet at a party, wendy. His mother later discovered after receiving the toxicology report that he had died of straight fentanyl poisoning. My mind knew Matthew was gone, but my heart didn't want to believe it.
Speaker 2:Welcome Wendy. Hi, Lisa, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:You're so welcome. I'm so sorry it's under these circumstances, but it has been a year since your sweet brown-eyed boy passed away from a counterfeit pill full of illicit fentanyl. My deepest heartfelt empathy for you. My deepest heartfelt empathy for you. If you will, what memories would you like to share with our audience about Matthew? We would love to hear everything about him.
Speaker 2:Honestly, there's probably not enough time to share all the great memories we have of Matthew. He has been a big part of our family and he still is a big part. We talk about him often, but our family was very close with him growing up. He has two sisters and a brother and we went to the beach a lot. We went to family gatherings. My in-laws lived across the street from us growing up and my parents lived two doors down and my sister-in-law lived next to my parents I mean her parents, I'm sorry so we had all family get togethers. So there are so many memories and Matthew is always there. He's in them and that's probably been the hardest part for us is he's not there physically anymore. He was the kid who would make people laugh, make people smile. If he saw someone who seemed to not be having a good time or having a bad day, he made it his mission to try and get them to smile and laugh. That was very important to him.
Speaker 1:I have seen pictures of him and, like you said, he's a beautiful, beautiful boy and you could tell he was just so full of life and such a part of your family and you do have a wonderful family, wendy, prior to Matthew's death, were you aware of illicit fentanyl and these counterfeit pills? On this painful journey, how and what have you learned about this most potent deadly drug?
Speaker 2:I had not heard of illicit fentanyl at all. I had had surgery and had fentanyl from the doctor in the hospital, but that's all I'd ever heard of it. And I was shocked when I saw on his toxicology report that there was fentanyl poisoning. I did everything I could to learn about it. I read everything I could, I joined the Lost Voices of Fentanyl on Facebook and I just really educated myself as much as I could and I could not believe just the small amount that it takes to kill somebody and the prevalence of it and the fact that nobody seems to be talking about it. I asked myself why have I not heard about this before? This is so deadly and it took my child. Why have I not heard about it?
Speaker 1:Yes, Wendy, you're exactly right. I feel like all of us, parents and people that have lost our sons and daughters, are in the same boat, so to speak. We were all blindsided, and this stems from parents who had their children suffer with an addiction over the several years we were blindsided. It also stems to parents who they knew their children were dabbling in recreational drugs. They were blindsided. And also it is down to our middle school children possibly elementary for all we know and high schoolers and on every college campus across this nation, campus across this nation, with the explicit well, the illicit fentanyl now being pressed into counterfeit pills. I mean, it is astounding. None of us knew, as parents, until we got that painful toxicology report. You're exactly right. What do you think needs to be done in our country to bring awareness, education and combat the major death by deception that's what I call it due to fentanyl poisoning? You're an educator, you're a teacher. Tell us, tell us what you feel and think needs to be done.
Speaker 2:Well, I think right now, with the current environment and so many people unaware, that we really need to get out the public awareness and education part. But I kind of look at the whole fentanyl crisis, the solution or getting to the solution, as a pie, and the first part of the pie would be treatment and recovery, and I think the government, any money that it does invest in this crisis, that's where it goes, but that's not the whole issue. The second piece would be to have publication, awareness and education. And I was making a banner for the rally in Washington and what I noticed and I have over 800 names of loved ones who've been poisoned by fentanyl the biggest groups were the 20-somethings and the 30-somethings.
Speaker 2:Now Matthew's Voice, which is my nonprofit organization, is really focusing on teenagers and young adults. We plan on going into high schools, possibly middle schools. So I really got to thinking what about the 20-somethings and the 30-somethings? How could we get to them? And I really think there needs to be a PSA that's put out on social media, that's put out maybe television commercials for the shows that have the demographics that they're in, shows that have the demographics that they're in, and maybe we can reach them that way because they're a big part of the victimhood and they are not being reached. So next, I think, probably the high schoolers. They need to be aware because you have kids who are thinking about experimenting, you have kids who are maybe weekend partiers and you have kids who have a substance misuse problem. All of them need to be aware.
Speaker 2:And, like you kind of pointed to earlier, I really think that we need to connect with the possible future users in middle school. Most of them have not been exposed to it. Some have, but we need to get them the education before they have that opportunity, so they are armed with what they need to be to make a good decision. And then, lastly, is cut off the supply chain. That's the last piece of the pie. The government needs to be involved. I think that the Chinese criminal organizations, which create the precursor chemicals for fentanyl, and the Mexican cartel which create the fentanyl they need to be labeled as terrorist organizations and I think that fentanyl needs to be labeled as a weapon of mass destruction. And the government needs to truly be involved for that to happen, and they're not needs to truly be involved for that to happen and they're not. So if we support treatment and recovery, we have education and public awareness and then we cut off the source. I think that that's going to go a long way in helping resolve the fentanyl crisis.
Speaker 1:Yes, winnie, you touched upon a lot of components that need to be addressed in our country. Let's go back to the rally that you spoke of. You said that you are creating banners and, I believe, hearts, with every victim that you know of this crisis, the fentanyl poisoning. Can you elaborate on the rally for us, so our audience will know about that?
Speaker 2:Sure, it's on October, it's on August 27th in Washington DC, in front of the Chinese embassy, and we are going to have guest speakers that are talking about the different components of the fentanyl crisis and how we can try and combat it and get rid of it, if you will, and I think that it's just really to bring awareness, to let the government know we're tired of our kids dying and nothing being done about it. It really is a call for help. It is a cry for help from the government.
Speaker 1:Yes, we are trying to definitely cry out for help. I totally understand that and we do need help. It's a shame in this country that grieving parents have to be the ones to try to bring awareness and education and try to do everything in our power to get the message out, all for the sake of trying to save others' lives and spare other families from this grief. That's what motivates all of us, everyone that I have spoken to and all the groups that you and I are involved in on social media. But you know what? I think it's our cause and purpose. Let's just take this a step higher. If you will, can you talk to me, wendy? I know that you have. I know that the love, all the love that you have for Matthew has led you to do some things that will make a difference and save lives. I know that this is your calling and is your purpose for your life. Please share with our audience how you are taking your grief and turning it around to help others.
Speaker 2:Sure, the thing that I guess really motivated me is in the beginning, I think, like almost with all parents, you didn't want people to think poorly of your child, so you didn't really want to share how they died. You didn't want them to say something bad about them. So at first we weren't really sharing with what happened with Matthew. And then I kind of just had this feeling in my heart and my gut that I needed to share. So I shared with my friends and family on Facebook what happened with Matthew, that I learned a little bit about fentanyl poisoning, so I was able to really give a little bit of information in that post and I got a tremendous positive response and I felt surely I touched on someone who talked to their kid that maybe it can make a difference and save their lives. Matthew was not saved, but maybe it could save somebody else. And then I really got to thinking about it and it just kept coming back to me and I decided well, if I could do the small part, why can't I help people, warn them, why can't I do it on a bigger scale? And that's where I created the nonprofit Matthew's Voice and I named it Matthew's Voice because Matthew had actually talked about wanting to talk to teenagers and different people about the problems with just drugs in general and how they can ruin your life, and he wanted to help them not make the mistakes that he did. So this is giving Matthew a voice and making a difference with other kids, and my biggest goal is to just save kids' lives and stop families from having to go through what we have, because it's heartbreaking, yeah, and so really my goal right now is kind of teenagers and young adults. I want to go around. I have a PowerPoint presentation and that kind of introduced them to Matthew and then I go through a lot of the educational pieces of fentanyl and what they need to know and I had presented to a Boy Scout troop and I presented to the, also to the parents. I think it's key, especially with those teenagers, that the parents are involved and they know as well, because they have that constant relationship with their child. And I just kind of had mouths falling open at how little it took a fentanyl to kill, how prevalent it was, how many people have died from it, how easy it was to come by, how easy it was to come by, and that really motivated me to keep going, and so I'm going to try and get into schools.
Speaker 2:I've contacted the Boys and Girls Club of North Carolina hoping to get in front of their children and their parents and, as I talked about earlier, the 20-somethings and the 30 30 somethings Matthew was 20. So that kind of you know was on my heart because my child was that age and and I thought about it and I'm like if we could get a PSA out to them, it has to start somewhere. You know, and I even so, I decided to go ahead and do a PSA and I'm working on that right now. I emailed and messaged several celebrities. I don't know if I got to them or not, but I have not heard back and I think that's going to be the biggest thing to get to them is to get somebody who's in the spotlight in the public eye, that they look up to or they like to follow, and get them to help with the PSA, and you'll get those kids to listen. I mean, they're adults really, they're 20-something and 30-something, but we have to reach them because they're not getting any education at all, so they're unaware.
Speaker 1:They are definitely unaware, and I think that's wonderful that you started, because I look at it as a beginning that you started, because I look at it as a beginning. You started in your community with the Boys and Girls Club, with the Scout Group, with the schools, and you're starting in your community. But then I believe you're having a higher calling, wendy. You want to bring the celebrities in, bring the people that kids especially can relate to and hear the true stories. A lot of these celebrities have suffered too and their voice needs to be heard, the truth about this. That's why it's the facts of Fentanyl.
Speaker 1:So you're exactly right. So I really hope and pray for the best for you on that endeavor, because I know that you're going to do it. I know that you're going to do it. Can you elaborate on any other components that you are working to do it? I know that you're going to do it. Can you elaborate on any other components that you are working on for Matthew's voice in your community and elsewhere, and what are your hopes and dreams for this? I think you touched upon a little bit, but I want you to shine with this because you are a doer and I want people to realize what motivates you in this.
Speaker 2:What my goal for Matthew's Voice really is to start out where I am, here in Stanford and reach out to the school district and possibly do presentations. It's a small community. There are two high schools, there are, I think, two or three middle schools and really start with that and then move to a bigger school district in North Carolina and reach them and then move to somewhere else. So eventually I would like to go to the whole state of North Carolina and educate the teenagers about fentanyl and how deadly it is, and the sooner the better. You know, and I'm kind of curious where this whole PSA thing is going to go.
Speaker 2:I just started it about a week ago and it's something that's definitely on my heart and I'm determined to get at least one celebrity to be a spokesperson for it. So I'm kind of curious where it'll go and, like you said, maybe it will lead to something even more, something more national. You know we'll see, but for now, definitely working on my community and getting those kids educated and being aware of fentanyl is there and they may think they're taking a Percocet like their mama has in her cabinet or their dad, but it's not. You know, and that's one thing that that really surprised the parents that, I told them, is they. The DEA has tested their pills, that they confiscate the fake, counterfeit pills and 26% of them are fatal. They have a lethal dose of fentanyl. That's one in four. Your child has a chance of dying and that's what happened to Matthew. He was that one in four and he passed away from fentanyl poisoning.
Speaker 1:Yes, it's truly tragic and shocking and I hope people are scared straight because these are facts. These are facts that everyone in our coalition are presenting and I hope they are scared straight. We can't hide from this. It can't be the elephant in the room anymore. We must bring this out, we must deal with factual information, we must get this word out and parents are trying across this nation, just like other people that I've interviewed on this podcast, and it is. It's growing. I have hope. It's growing every day. I see that and we have a lot further to go with the public service announcements. I just want to say thank you and I want you to know that and I want our audience to know that each year, tens of thousands of our young people middle school, high school, 20s and 30-year-olds are dying. The illicit fentanyl is in every community schools, colleges, universities across this country and in every profession.
Speaker 1:Death is never easy to talk about, especially your child, wendy. I admire your strength, your strong faith and fortitude. Thank you for sharing Matthew's in your story to bring awareness and to make a difference. Matthew is remembered as a kind, funny, loving young man, as you described. He is forever in your heart and on your mind each and every moment of your day. When a child leaves this earth, they never really leave you. I know, as his mother, you will always keep talking about him. You will always, in his honor, choose to fight for his legacy by educating teens and young adults about the dangers of fentanyl and recreational drug usage, in hopes of saving young adults and their families from having to experience a heartbreak that your family has had to endure. I know you love and miss your sweet brown-eyed boy every day. Matthew's life mattered. The recreational drugs did not define him. Thank you, wendy, god bless you.
Speaker 1:Thank you for having me.
