Fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for people 18-45 years old in the United States, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Parents like Ed Ternan & Stephanie Hellstern know this fact too well and are doing everything in their power to spread the news. Though they live thousands of miles apart, Ed and Stephanie have connected as parents who have lost children to fentanyl, or so-called fentapills.
Ed, who lives in California, started a non-profit called Song for Charlie in honor of Charlie Ternan who died after taking what he thought was a Percocet pill. The pill was actually pure fentanyl and killed him within 30 minutes.
Stephanie, who lives in the Fort Worth area, lost her 16-year-old son, Kyle, in the summer of 2020. She found him in the backyard of their home. He too died from a single pill. She started the KSS Kyle Shane Sexton Foundation to raise awareness about what she calls the ‘poisoning’ of young people.
Both Charlie and Kyle purchased the pills off of Snapchat, which Stephanie describes as “like ordering a pizza.” This is a conversation every parent needs to hear.
Raising Joy is part of Cook Children’s Health Care System’s Joy Campaign, a communications initiative aimed at preventing youth suicides. For more information about the Joy Campaign, visit cookchildrens.org/joy.
One Pill Can Kill – Losing a child to fentanyl with Ed Ternan & Stephanie Hellstern | Raising Joy podcast - Listen or read transcript on Metacast
