Parents Start Foundation to Combat Drug Abuse After Their Sons Die From Overdose

Oxycodone. John Moore/Getty Images

On the morning of July 14, 2015, Becky Savage, mother of four, went into her 18-year-old son Nick’s room to wake him, but he didn’t respond.

The evening before the incident occurred, Becky accompanied her sons Nick and Jack to several graduation parties, after which she parted ways with them to go to a grocery store, reported IndyStar.

The two boys were said to be great hockey players and known around town for doing well in school, volunteering, and attending church.

Becky says she later saw the two boys that evening when they returned home around midnight, with Jack going to his room, and Nick, accompanied by several friends, going down into the basement.

This would be the last time she saw the two boys alive.

The Morning Of

Becky remembers trying to wake Jack, telling him it was time to start his chores. Jack didn’t respond and she then tried nudging him, but he didn’t move.

At that point, she became frantic and started yelling for her eldest son Nick to come help her, but he didn’t come. Becky then called 911 and started to perform CPR on Jack.

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Upon arrival, paramedics took a look at Jack. One paramedic is said to have immediately left the room, to which she responded, “Where are you going? Why are you leaving him? He’s a fighter. What are you doing?”

The paramedic soon returned to inform Becky that they would need to call a coroner.

At this point Becky recalls one of Nick’s friends turning to her and informing her that the two boys had taken Oxycodone the night before.

Becky, who happened to be nurse, began asking the paramedics to administer Narcan—a medication known to treat opioid overdose—but it was too late.

Amidst the turmoil, a neighbor called Becky’s husband Mike, who at the time was on a fishing trip with the couple’s other two sons, requesting him to return immediately.

Upon arrival, Mike was greeted by Becky who informed him what had happened. In a Facebook video, Mike later said. “You'd give everything up for 10 seconds, just 10 seconds.”

Becky says she has not tried to find out who it was that gave her sons the pills.

The 525 Foundation

Following the tragedy, Mike and Becky started The 525 Foundation, a non-profit organization that helps raise awareness about the dangers of prescription drug abuse.

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The name of the foundation was inspired by the numbers on Jack and Nick’s hockey jerseys.

“What I explain to kids is not only does that decision in that time affect you but it affects all your friends and your family,” said Becky.

The foundation has helped install pill drop boxes in local supermarkets and had reportedly collected more than 6,000 pounds of pills.