Fentanyl contamination led to my son’s overdose
Substances containing fentanyl are increasingly driving overdose deaths
In summer 2021 Bruce said he wanted to get treatment for his substance use. His mother, Sandy, immediately secured a bed in a medical detox facility and then transferred Bruce to the inpatient Chanlyut program, run by the Cook Inlet Tribal Council. Bruce graduated, moved home with his mom and embarked on outpatient treatment. The treatment program gave him a mountain bike, and he found joy riding around Anchorage trails. His daily schedule revolved around intensive outpatient meetings and counseling.
Then came the day in October when Bruce left, saying he was going for a bike ride. “Be careful out there,” she told him. Tragically, Bruce was found dead at 11:38 a.m. on October 28, 2021, in the Carrs parking lot on DeBarr Road. A dog walker noticed his body and called the police. The police officer who met Sandy at the location where Bruce’s body was found had come from notifying a different family about an overdose death.
Sandy’s son couldn’t be saved, but she is doing everything in her power to ensure this doesn’t happen to another family. While Bruce overdosed on fentanyl, Sandy does not think that he knew the drug he took was fentanyl. She believes there needs to be education about the lethality of all street drugs because of the potential that they could be contaminated by fentanyl.
