Grieving Mom Shared Photo of Her Dying Son in Hopes to Warn People About Fentanyl Use

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From the archives: This story was last updated in September 2019.

A devastated mom took to Facebook after losing her son to a drug overdose. She hopes the powerful photo showing her and her son’s last moments together on his hospital bed will drive home the dangers of the drug fentanyl.

Sherri Kent, from Calgary, Canada, posted the photo along with a caption on her Facebook page a few years ago in April 2017. The heartbreaking photo shows her lying next to her dying son, Michael, then 22, on his hospital bed, while he was intubated and unconscious after overdosing.

Aware that fentanyl is the number one killer in Canada, Kent hopes to warn other parents about the dangers of the deadly drug.

“My son was not an addict, he made a mistake that cost him his life. I just want to make everyone aware of the epidemic that’s going on right now that’s killing 5-7 people a day in every city in Canada,” she wrote. “It’s out of control and there is no way to protect our children from this other than to warn them of the dangers of drug use today.”

The deadly drug, which is 50 times more powerful than heroin and 80–100 times stronger than morphine, can easily result in death from even small doses.

Speaking to CBC News, Kent recalled her last moments with her son: “They made me a spot on the bed where I could lay with my son and talk to him. This is where I told him I was still proud of him.”

She also explained that Michael and his sister had been running errands when they met a man who offered them drugs. His sister forced him to decline, but he went out to meet the man the next day and took the drugs inside a store restroom, which resulted in an overdose and heart failure.

“[The other man] got all sketched out and messed up and left my son in the washroom,” Kent said.

“About 20 minutes later, he was too scared to go back and check on my son … so he ran for the people who own the store to unlock the door and that’s when they found him. He was already blue in the lips. By the time the ambulance got there he was in cardiac arrest.”

Michael was kept on life support after being rushed to the hospital. Kent drove to the hospital to see her son. One week after overdosing on March 21, 2017, Michael passed away after he was taken off life support.

“It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to deal with in my life,” Kent told CBC. “Believe me, it was the worst days of my life.”

In the Facebook post, the mom wrote: “I’ve lost my son to this horrible tragedy and want to make parents aware that it can happen to anyone.”

Kent also recommended that anyone who does drugs or has friends who do to get a NARCAN kit, which can help prevent an overdose. “They give you the time you need to get medical help,” she said.

Instead of getting a NARCAN kit, simply say no to fentanyl and all other drugs. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), overdose deaths from synthetic opioids such as fentanyl surged from around 29,000 in 2017 to over 32,000 in 2018.

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