In the last year, several local college students have died after taking drugs they didn't realize contained fentanyl. It's a situation Jeremy Bradford knows all too well.
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"If we can ensure that one family never goes through what we've gone through as a family, then that's a win for us," said Bradford.
Bradford's son, Alex, was a 19-year-old at UNC Wilmington when he took a pain pill he didn't realize was contaminated with fentanyl, killing him. Jeremy and his wife went on to start the foundation 2 Out Rally in Alex's honor, which spreads awareness about the danger of fentanyl contamination and helps distribute Naloxone to schools across the state.
"We've been very successful recently of getting Narcan, Naloxone, and Narcan nasal spray in every school in Harnett County," said Bradford.
It's a push taking place on local college campuses, too. At UNC-Chapel Hill, Riley Sullivan started the Carolina Harm Reduction Union last year, distributing Naloxone and fentanyl test strips to students every week in the middle of campus.
"Naloxone is the pure antidote to overdose. And we know that it can and it does save lives on this campus," said Sullivan.
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Bella Grumet joined the Carolina Harm Reduction Union after her friend died from unintentionally ingesting fentanyl last spring. Grumet said their work goes beyond Naloxone distribution -- it's about better educating students in an environment where they'll be tempted to experiment with new drugs.
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"I feel like you hear about all these tragic events and you're like, That's horrible, but it never really hits close enough to home," said Grumet. "And what I want to do is make sure that people have that sort of awareness of it without having to go through something personal themselves."
That's a mentality that hits close to home for Jeremy, too.
"I was literally that parent that sat there and thought, man, that'll never be me," he said. "That's really sad...but it will never happen to us. And unfortunately, that mentality is the wrong mentality to have."
According to the CDC, roughly 65% of the deaths involving fentanyl in 2022 could have been prevented with life-saving measures like Naloxone.
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