May 14, 2025 • 24 mins
It can happen to anyone. My son was poisoned with a counterfeit Percocet that contained pure fentanyl.
We lost our amazing son, Matthew Thomas, at 20 years of age to fentanyl poisoning. He took what he thought was a Percocet and died moments later on the morning of 07/25/2020. Because of this tragic loss our family experienced, we want to do everything in our power to keep another family from suffering this way. That is why we created Matthew's Voice.
The mission of Matthew’s Voice is to educate teens and young adults about the dangers of fentanyl poisoning specifically, and drug use in general. In addition, to provide rehabilitation scholarships for individuals who lack financial means.
To achieve this mission, we will go around to local high schools and teen organizations. We will make this issue personal, giving teens and young adults a first hand account of the consequences that can come from drug use. We will also talk about the fentanyl epidemic, the dangers of drug use in general and the role social media plays in the availability and distribution of various drugs. Once we are able, we will also offer scholarships to teens and young adults for treatment in drug rehab programs.
The sky is the limit and we have big hopes and dreams for this organization. Matthew may not be here to warn our youth of the dangers of drug use, but through Matthew's Voice, his legacy will live on and he will save lives. We will shout to the top of the Blue Ridge Mountains and beyond to be sure Matthew's Voice is heard.
The Fatal Facts of Fentanyl podcast is dedicated to raising Awareness to the illicit FENTANYL crisis hitting the USA.
The goal is to SAVE LIVES and families from this travesty.
Awareness and Education are the Key.
Knowledge is Power!
The Fatal Facts of Fentanyl podcast is dedicated to raising Awareness to the illicit FENTANYL crisis hitting the USA.
The goal is to SAVE LIVES and families from this travesty.
Awareness and Education are the Key.
Knowledge is Power!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
The shock of getting a phone call stating that your
son is unresponsive and haspassed away is an excruciating
pain like no other ever imagined.
Matthew was out of townvisiting his friends and
girlfriend.
He was given a Percocet at aparty.
Wendy his mother.
He was given a Percocet at aparty, wendy.
(00:32):
His mother later discoveredafter receiving the toxicology
report that he had died ofstraight fentanyl poisoning.
My mind knew Matthew was gone,but my heart didn't want to
believe it.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Welcome Wendy.
Hi, Lisa, Thank you for havingme.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
You're so welcome.
I'm so sorry it's under thesecircumstances, but it has been a
year since your sweetbrown-eyed boy passed away from
a counterfeit pill full ofillicit fentanyl.
My deepest heartfelt empathyfor you.
My deepest heartfelt empathyfor you.
(01:09):
If you will, what memorieswould you like to share with our
audience about Matthew?
We would love to heareverything about him.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Honestly, there's probably not enough time to
share all the great memories wehave of Matthew.
He has been a big part of ourfamily and he still is a big
part.
We talk about him often, butour family was very close with
him growing up.
He has two sisters and abrother and we went to the beach
a lot.
We went to family gatherings.
(01:34):
My in-laws lived across thestreet from us growing up and my
parents lived two doors downand my sister-in-law lived next
to my parents I mean her parents, I'm sorry so we had all family
get togethers.
So there are so many memoriesand Matthew is always there.
He's in them and that'sprobably been the hardest part
for us is he's not therephysically anymore.
(01:55):
He was the kid who would makepeople laugh, make people smile.
If he saw someone who seemed tonot be having a good time or
having a bad day, he made it hismission to try and get them to
smile and laugh.
That was very important to him.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
I have seen pictures of him and, like you said, he's
a beautiful, beautiful boy andyou could tell he was just so
full of life and such a part ofyour family and you do have a
wonderful family, wendy, priorto Matthew's death, were you
aware of illicit fentanyl andthese counterfeit pills?
(02:36):
On this painful journey, howand what have you learned about
this most potent deadly drug?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
I had not heard of illicit fentanyl at all.
I had had surgery and hadfentanyl from the doctor in the
hospital, but that's all I'dever heard of it.
And I was shocked when I saw onhis toxicology report that
there was fentanyl poisoning.
I did everything I could tolearn about it.
I read everything I could, Ijoined the Lost Voices of
(03:07):
Fentanyl on Facebook and I justreally educated myself as much
as I could and I could notbelieve just the small amount
that it takes to kill somebodyand the prevalence of it and the
fact that nobody seems to betalking about it.
I asked myself why have I notheard about this before?
This is so deadly and it tookmy child.
(03:28):
Why have I not heard about it?
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Yes, Wendy, you're exactly right.
I feel like all of us, parentsand people that have lost our
sons and daughters, are in thesame boat, so to speak.
We were all blindsided, andthis stems from parents who had
their children suffer with anaddiction over the several years
(03:57):
we were blindsided.
It also stems to parents whothey knew their children were
dabbling in recreational drugs.
They were blindsided.
And also it is down to ourmiddle school children possibly
elementary for all we know andhigh schoolers and on every
(04:19):
college campus across thisnation, campus across this
nation, with the explicit well,the illicit fentanyl now being
pressed into counterfeit pills.
I mean, it is astounding.
None of us knew, as parents,until we got that painful
toxicology report.
You're exactly right.
What do you think needs to bedone in our country to bring
(04:43):
awareness, education and combatthe major death by deception
that's what I call it due tofentanyl poisoning?
You're an educator, you're ateacher.
Tell us, tell us what you feeland think needs to be done.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Well, I think right now, with the current
environment and so many peopleunaware, that we really need to
get out the public awareness andeducation part.
But I kind of look at the wholefentanyl crisis, the solution
or getting to the solution, as apie, and the first part of the
pie would be treatment andrecovery, and I think the
(05:20):
government, any money that itdoes invest in this crisis,
that's where it goes, but that'snot the whole issue.
The second piece would be tohave publication, awareness and
education.
And I was making a banner forthe rally in Washington and what
(05:43):
I noticed and I have over 800names of loved ones who've been
poisoned by fentanyl the biggestgroups were the 20-somethings
and the 30-somethings.
Now Matthew's Voice, which is mynonprofit organization, is
really focusing on teenagers andyoung adults.
We plan on going into highschools, possibly middle schools
(06:03):
.
So I really got to thinkingwhat about the 20-somethings and
the 30-somethings?
How could we get to them?
And I really think there needsto be a PSA that's put out on
social media, that's put outmaybe television commercials for
the shows that have thedemographics that they're in,
(06:26):
shows that have the demographicsthat they're in, and maybe we
can reach them that way becausethey're a big part of the
victimhood and they are notbeing reached.
So next, I think, probably thehigh schoolers.
They need to be aware becauseyou have kids who are thinking
about experimenting, you havekids who are maybe weekend
partiers and you have kids whohave a substance misuse problem.
All of them need to be aware.
(06:47):
And, like you kind of pointed toearlier, I really think that we
need to connect with thepossible future users in middle
school.
Most of them have not beenexposed to it.
Some have, but we need to getthem the education before they
have that opportunity, so theyare armed with what they need to
be to make a good decision.
And then, lastly, is cut offthe supply chain.
(07:09):
That's the last piece of thepie.
The government needs to beinvolved.
I think that the Chinesecriminal organizations, which
create the precursor chemicalsfor fentanyl, and the Mexican
cartel which create the fentanylthey need to be labeled as
terrorist organizations and Ithink that fentanyl needs to be
labeled as a weapon of massdestruction.
(07:30):
And the government needs totruly be involved for that to
happen, and they're not needs totruly be involved for that to
happen and they're not.
So if we support treatment andrecovery, we have education and
public awareness and then we cutoff the source.
I think that that's going to goa long way in helping resolve
the fentanyl crisis.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Yes, winnie, you touched upon a lot of components
that need to be addressed inour country.
Let's go back to the rally thatyou spoke of.
You said that you are creatingbanners and, I believe, hearts,
with every victim that you knowof this crisis, the fentanyl
poisoning.
Can you elaborate on the rallyfor us, so our audience will
(08:17):
know about that?
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Sure, it's on October , it's on August 27th in
Washington DC, in front of theChinese embassy, and we are
going to have guest speakersthat are talking about the
different components of thefentanyl crisis and how we can
try and combat it and get rid ofit, if you will, and I think
(08:39):
that it's just really to bringawareness, to let the government
know we're tired of our kidsdying and nothing being done
about it.
It really is a call for help.
It is a cry for help from thegovernment.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Yes, we are trying to definitely cry out for help.
I totally understand that andwe do need help.
It's a shame in this countrythat grieving parents have to be
the ones to try to bringawareness and education and try
to do everything in our power toget the message out, all for
(09:15):
the sake of trying to saveothers' lives and spare other
families from this grief.
That's what motivates all of us, everyone that I have spoken to
and all the groups that you andI are involved in on social
media.
But you know what?
I think it's our cause andpurpose.
Let's just take this a stephigher.
If you will, can you talk to me, wendy?
(09:38):
I know that you have.
I know that the love, all thelove that you have for Matthew
has led you to do some thingsthat will make a difference and
save lives.
I know that this is yourcalling and is your purpose for
your life.
Please share with our audiencehow you are taking your grief
and turning it around to helpothers.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Sure, the thing that I guess really motivated me is
in the beginning, I think, likealmost with all parents, you
didn't want people to thinkpoorly of your child, so you
didn't really want to share howthey died.
You didn't want them to saysomething bad about them.
So at first we weren't reallysharing with what happened with
Matthew.
And then I kind of just hadthis feeling in my heart and my
(10:19):
gut that I needed to share.
So I shared with my friends andfamily on Facebook what
happened with Matthew, that Ilearned a little bit about
fentanyl poisoning, so I wasable to really give a little bit
of information in that post andI got a tremendous positive
response and I felt surely Itouched on someone who talked to
their kid that maybe it canmake a difference and save their
(10:40):
lives.
Matthew was not saved, butmaybe it could save somebody
else.
And then I really got tothinking about it and it just
kept coming back to me and Idecided well, if I could do the
small part, why can't I helppeople, warn them, why can't I
do it on a bigger scale?
And that's where I created thenonprofit Matthew's Voice and I
(11:04):
named it Matthew's Voice becauseMatthew had actually talked
about wanting to talk toteenagers and different people
about the problems with justdrugs in general and how they
can ruin your life, and hewanted to help them not make the
mistakes that he did.
So this is giving Matthew avoice and making a difference
(11:25):
with other kids, and my biggestgoal is to just save kids' lives
and stop families from havingto go through what we have,
because it's heartbreaking, yeah, and so really my goal right
now is kind of teenagers andyoung adults.
I want to go around.
I have a PowerPointpresentation and that kind of
(11:46):
introduced them to Matthew andthen I go through a lot of the
educational pieces of fentanyland what they need to know and I
had presented to a Boy Scouttroop and I presented to the,
also to the parents.
I think it's key, especiallywith those teenagers, that the
parents are involved and theyknow as well, because they have
that constant relationship withtheir child.
(12:06):
And I just kind of had mouthsfalling open at how little it
took a fentanyl to kill, howprevalent it was, how many
people have died from it, howeasy it was to come by, how easy
it was to come by, and thatreally motivated me to keep
(12:27):
going, and so I'm going to tryand get into schools.
I've contacted the Boys andGirls Club of North Carolina
hoping to get in front of theirchildren and their parents and,
as I talked about earlier, the20-somethings and the 30 30
somethings Matthew was 20.
So that kind of you know was onmy heart because my child was
that age and and I thought aboutit and I'm like if we could get
(12:53):
a PSA out to them, it has tostart somewhere.
You know, and I even so, Idecided to go ahead and do a PSA
and I'm working on that rightnow.
I emailed and messaged severalcelebrities.
I don't know if I got to themor not, but I have not heard
back and I think that's going tobe the biggest thing to get to
them is to get somebody who's inthe spotlight in the public eye
, that they look up to or theylike to follow, and get them to
(13:17):
help with the PSA, and you'llget those kids to listen.
I mean, they're adults really,they're 20-something and
30-something, but we have toreach them because they're not
getting any education at all, sothey're unaware.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
They are definitely unaware, and I think that's
wonderful that you started,because I look at it as a
beginning that you started,because I look at it as a
beginning.
You started in your communitywith the Boys and Girls Club,
with the Scout Group, with theschools, and you're starting in
your community.
But then I believe you'rehaving a higher calling, wendy.
You want to bring thecelebrities in, bring the people
(13:56):
that kids especially can relateto and hear the true stories.
A lot of these celebrities havesuffered too and their voice
needs to be heard, the truthabout this.
That's why it's the facts ofFentanyl.
So you're exactly right.
So I really hope and pray forthe best for you on that
endeavor, because I know thatyou're going to do it.
(14:17):
I know that you're going to doit.
Can you elaborate on any othercomponents that you are working
to do it?
I know that you're going to doit.
Can you elaborate on any othercomponents that you are working
on for Matthew's voice in yourcommunity and elsewhere, and
what are your hopes and dreamsfor this?
I think you touched upon alittle bit, but I want you to
shine with this because you area doer and I want people to
(14:40):
realize what motivates you inthis.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
What my goal for Matthew's Voice really is to
start out where I am, here inStanford and reach out to the
school district and possibly dopresentations.
It's a small community.
There are two high schools,there are, I think, two or three
middle schools and really startwith that and then move to a
bigger school district in NorthCarolina and reach them and then
(15:04):
move to somewhere else.
So eventually I would like togo to the whole state of North
Carolina and educate theteenagers about fentanyl and how
deadly it is, and the soonerthe better.
You know, and I'm kind ofcurious where this whole PSA
thing is going to go.
I just started it about a weekago and it's something that's
(15:25):
definitely on my heart and I'mdetermined to get at least one
celebrity to be a spokespersonfor it.
So I'm kind of curious whereit'll go and, like you said,
maybe it will lead to somethingeven more, something more
national.
You know we'll see, but for now, definitely working on my
community and getting those kidseducated and being aware of
(15:46):
fentanyl is there and they maythink they're taking a Percocet
like their mama has in hercabinet or their dad, but it's
not.
You know, and that's one thingthat that really surprised the
parents that, I told them, isthey.
The DEA has tested their pills,that they confiscate the fake,
counterfeit pills and 26% ofthem are fatal.
(16:07):
They have a lethal dose offentanyl.
That's one in four.
Your child has a chance ofdying and that's what happened
to Matthew.
He was that one in four and hepassed away from fentanyl
poisoning.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Yes, it's truly tragic and shocking and I hope
people are scared straightbecause these are facts.
These are facts that everyonein our coalition are presenting
and I hope they are scaredstraight.
We can't hide from this.
It can't be the elephant in theroom anymore.
We must bring this out, we mustdeal with factual information,
(16:43):
we must get this word out andparents are trying across this
nation, just like other peoplethat I've interviewed on this
podcast, and it is.
It's growing.
I have hope.
It's growing every day.
I see that and we have a lotfurther to go with the public
service announcements.
I just want to say thank youand I want you to know that and
(17:09):
I want our audience to know thateach year, tens of thousands of
our young people middle school,high school, 20s and
30-year-olds are dying.
The illicit fentanyl is inevery community schools,
colleges, universities acrossthis country and in every
profession.
(17:31):
Death is never easy to talkabout, especially your child,
wendy.
I admire your strength, yourstrong faith and fortitude.
Thank you for sharing Matthew'sin your story to bring
awareness and to make adifference.
Matthew is remembered as a kind, funny, loving young man, as
(17:53):
you described.
He is forever in your heart andon your mind each and every
moment of your day.
When a child leaves this earth,they never really leave you.
I know, as his mother, you willalways keep talking about him.
You will always, in his honor,choose to fight for his legacy
(18:13):
by educating teens and youngadults about the dangers of
fentanyl and recreational drugusage, in hopes of saving young
adults and their families fromhaving to experience a
heartbreak that your family hashad to endure.
I know you love and miss yoursweet brown-eyed boy every day.
(18:34):
Matthew's life mattered.
The recreational drugs did notdefine him.
Thank you, wendy, god bless you.
Thank you for having me.
The shock of getting a phone call stating that your
son is unresponsive and haspassed away is an excruciating
pain like no other ever imagined.
Matthew was out of townvisiting his friends and
girlfriend.
He was given a Percocet at aparty.
Wendy his mother.
He was given a Percocet at aparty, wendy.
(00:32):
His mother later discoveredafter receiving the toxicology
report that he had died ofstraight fentanyl poisoning.
My mind knew Matthew was gone,but my heart didn't want to
believe it.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Welcome Wendy.
Hi, Lisa, Thank you for havingme.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
You're so welcome.
I'm so sorry it's under thesecircumstances, but it has been a
year since your sweetbrown-eyed boy passed away from
a counterfeit pill full ofillicit fentanyl.
My deepest heartfelt empathyfor you.
My deepest heartfelt empathyfor you.
(01:09):
If you will, what memorieswould you like to share with our
audience about Matthew?
We would love to heareverything about him.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Honestly, there's probably not enough time to
share all the great memories wehave of Matthew.
He has been a big part of ourfamily and he still is a big
part.
We talk about him often, butour family was very close with
him growing up.
He has two sisters and abrother and we went to the beach
a lot.
We went to family gatherings.
(01:34):
My in-laws lived across thestreet from us growing up and my
parents lived two doors downand my sister-in-law lived next
to my parents I mean her parents, I'm sorry so we had all family
get togethers.
So there are so many memoriesand Matthew is always there.
He's in them and that'sprobably been the hardest part
for us is he's not therephysically anymore.
(01:55):
He was the kid who would makepeople laugh, make people smile.
If he saw someone who seemed tonot be having a good time or
having a bad day, he made it hismission to try and get them to
smile and laugh.
That was very important to him.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
I have seen pictures of him and, like you said, he's
a beautiful, beautiful boy andyou could tell he was just so
full of life and such a part ofyour family and you do have a
wonderful family, wendy, priorto Matthew's death, were you
aware of illicit fentanyl andthese counterfeit pills?
(02:36):
On this painful journey, howand what have you learned about
this most potent deadly drug?
Speaker 2 (02:43):
I had not heard of illicit fentanyl at all.
I had had surgery and hadfentanyl from the doctor in the
hospital, but that's all I'dever heard of it.
And I was shocked when I saw onhis toxicology report that
there was fentanyl poisoning.
I did everything I could tolearn about it.
I read everything I could, Ijoined the Lost Voices of
(03:07):
Fentanyl on Facebook and I justreally educated myself as much
as I could and I could notbelieve just the small amount
that it takes to kill somebodyand the prevalence of it and the
fact that nobody seems to betalking about it.
I asked myself why have I notheard about this before?
This is so deadly and it tookmy child.
(03:28):
Why have I not heard about it?
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Yes, Wendy, you're exactly right.
I feel like all of us, parentsand people that have lost our
sons and daughters, are in thesame boat, so to speak.
We were all blindsided, andthis stems from parents who had
their children suffer with anaddiction over the several years
(03:57):
we were blindsided.
It also stems to parents whothey knew their children were
dabbling in recreational drugs.
They were blindsided.
And also it is down to ourmiddle school children possibly
elementary for all we know andhigh schoolers and on every
(04:19):
college campus across thisnation, campus across this
nation, with the explicit well,the illicit fentanyl now being
pressed into counterfeit pills.
I mean, it is astounding.
None of us knew, as parents,until we got that painful
toxicology report.
You're exactly right.
What do you think needs to bedone in our country to bring
(04:43):
awareness, education and combatthe major death by deception
that's what I call it due tofentanyl poisoning?
You're an educator, you're ateacher.
Tell us, tell us what you feeland think needs to be done.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Well, I think right now, with the current
environment and so many peopleunaware, that we really need to
get out the public awareness andeducation part.
But I kind of look at the wholefentanyl crisis, the solution
or getting to the solution, as apie, and the first part of the
pie would be treatment andrecovery, and I think the
(05:20):
government, any money that itdoes invest in this crisis,
that's where it goes, but that'snot the whole issue.
The second piece would be tohave publication, awareness and
education.
And I was making a banner forthe rally in Washington and what
(05:43):
I noticed and I have over 800names of loved ones who've been
poisoned by fentanyl the biggestgroups were the 20-somethings
and the 30-somethings.
Now Matthew's Voice, which is mynonprofit organization, is
really focusing on teenagers andyoung adults.
We plan on going into highschools, possibly middle schools
(06:03):
.
So I really got to thinkingwhat about the 20-somethings and
the 30-somethings?
How could we get to them?
And I really think there needsto be a PSA that's put out on
social media, that's put outmaybe television commercials for
the shows that have thedemographics that they're in,
(06:26):
shows that have the demographicsthat they're in, and maybe we
can reach them that way becausethey're a big part of the
victimhood and they are notbeing reached.
So next, I think, probably thehigh schoolers.
They need to be aware becauseyou have kids who are thinking
about experimenting, you havekids who are maybe weekend
partiers and you have kids whohave a substance misuse problem.
All of them need to be aware.
(06:47):
And, like you kind of pointed toearlier, I really think that we
need to connect with thepossible future users in middle
school.
Most of them have not beenexposed to it.
Some have, but we need to getthem the education before they
have that opportunity, so theyare armed with what they need to
be to make a good decision.
And then, lastly, is cut offthe supply chain.
(07:09):
That's the last piece of thepie.
The government needs to beinvolved.
I think that the Chinesecriminal organizations, which
create the precursor chemicalsfor fentanyl, and the Mexican
cartel which create the fentanylthey need to be labeled as
terrorist organizations and Ithink that fentanyl needs to be
labeled as a weapon of massdestruction.
(07:30):
And the government needs totruly be involved for that to
happen, and they're not needs totruly be involved for that to
happen and they're not.
So if we support treatment andrecovery, we have education and
public awareness and then we cutoff the source.
I think that that's going to goa long way in helping resolve
the fentanyl crisis.
Speaker 1 (07:54):
Yes, winnie, you touched upon a lot of components
that need to be addressed inour country.
Let's go back to the rally thatyou spoke of.
You said that you are creatingbanners and, I believe, hearts,
with every victim that you knowof this crisis, the fentanyl
poisoning.
Can you elaborate on the rallyfor us, so our audience will
(08:17):
know about that?
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Sure, it's on October , it's on August 27th in
Washington DC, in front of theChinese embassy, and we are
going to have guest speakersthat are talking about the
different components of thefentanyl crisis and how we can
try and combat it and get rid ofit, if you will, and I think
(08:39):
that it's just really to bringawareness, to let the government
know we're tired of our kidsdying and nothing being done
about it.
It really is a call for help.
It is a cry for help from thegovernment.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Yes, we are trying to definitely cry out for help.
I totally understand that andwe do need help.
It's a shame in this countrythat grieving parents have to be
the ones to try to bringawareness and education and try
to do everything in our power toget the message out, all for
(09:15):
the sake of trying to saveothers' lives and spare other
families from this grief.
That's what motivates all of us, everyone that I have spoken to
and all the groups that you andI are involved in on social
media.
But you know what?
I think it's our cause andpurpose.
Let's just take this a stephigher.
If you will, can you talk to me, wendy?
(09:38):
I know that you have.
I know that the love, all thelove that you have for Matthew
has led you to do some thingsthat will make a difference and
save lives.
I know that this is yourcalling and is your purpose for
your life.
Please share with our audiencehow you are taking your grief
and turning it around to helpothers.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Sure, the thing that I guess really motivated me is
in the beginning, I think, likealmost with all parents, you
didn't want people to thinkpoorly of your child, so you
didn't really want to share howthey died.
You didn't want them to saysomething bad about them.
So at first we weren't reallysharing with what happened with
Matthew.
And then I kind of just hadthis feeling in my heart and my
(10:19):
gut that I needed to share.
So I shared with my friends andfamily on Facebook what
happened with Matthew, that Ilearned a little bit about
fentanyl poisoning, so I wasable to really give a little bit
of information in that post andI got a tremendous positive
response and I felt surely Itouched on someone who talked to
their kid that maybe it canmake a difference and save their
(10:40):
lives.
Matthew was not saved, butmaybe it could save somebody
else.
And then I really got tothinking about it and it just
kept coming back to me and Idecided well, if I could do the
small part, why can't I helppeople, warn them, why can't I
do it on a bigger scale?
And that's where I created thenonprofit Matthew's Voice and I
(11:04):
named it Matthew's Voice becauseMatthew had actually talked
about wanting to talk toteenagers and different people
about the problems with justdrugs in general and how they
can ruin your life, and hewanted to help them not make the
mistakes that he did.
So this is giving Matthew avoice and making a difference
(11:25):
with other kids, and my biggestgoal is to just save kids' lives
and stop families from havingto go through what we have,
because it's heartbreaking, yeah, and so really my goal right
now is kind of teenagers andyoung adults.
I want to go around.
I have a PowerPointpresentation and that kind of
(11:46):
introduced them to Matthew andthen I go through a lot of the
educational pieces of fentanyland what they need to know and I
had presented to a Boy Scouttroop and I presented to the,
also to the parents.
I think it's key, especiallywith those teenagers, that the
parents are involved and theyknow as well, because they have
that constant relationship withtheir child.
(12:06):
And I just kind of had mouthsfalling open at how little it
took a fentanyl to kill, howprevalent it was, how many
people have died from it, howeasy it was to come by, how easy
it was to come by, and thatreally motivated me to keep
(12:27):
going, and so I'm going to tryand get into schools.
I've contacted the Boys andGirls Club of North Carolina
hoping to get in front of theirchildren and their parents and,
as I talked about earlier, the20-somethings and the 30 30
somethings Matthew was 20.
So that kind of you know was onmy heart because my child was
that age and and I thought aboutit and I'm like if we could get
(12:53):
a PSA out to them, it has tostart somewhere.
You know, and I even so, Idecided to go ahead and do a PSA
and I'm working on that rightnow.
I emailed and messaged severalcelebrities.
I don't know if I got to themor not, but I have not heard
back and I think that's going tobe the biggest thing to get to
them is to get somebody who's inthe spotlight in the public eye
, that they look up to or theylike to follow, and get them to
(13:17):
help with the PSA, and you'llget those kids to listen.
I mean, they're adults really,they're 20-something and
30-something, but we have toreach them because they're not
getting any education at all, sothey're unaware.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
They are definitely unaware, and I think that's
wonderful that you started,because I look at it as a
beginning that you started,because I look at it as a
beginning.
You started in your communitywith the Boys and Girls Club,
with the Scout Group, with theschools, and you're starting in
your community.
But then I believe you'rehaving a higher calling, wendy.
You want to bring thecelebrities in, bring the people
(13:56):
that kids especially can relateto and hear the true stories.
A lot of these celebrities havesuffered too and their voice
needs to be heard, the truthabout this.
That's why it's the facts ofFentanyl.
So you're exactly right.
So I really hope and pray forthe best for you on that
endeavor, because I know thatyou're going to do it.
(14:17):
I know that you're going to doit.
Can you elaborate on any othercomponents that you are working
to do it?
I know that you're going to doit.
Can you elaborate on any othercomponents that you are working
on for Matthew's voice in yourcommunity and elsewhere, and
what are your hopes and dreamsfor this?
I think you touched upon alittle bit, but I want you to
shine with this because you area doer and I want people to
(14:40):
realize what motivates you inthis.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
What my goal for Matthew's Voice really is to
start out where I am, here inStanford and reach out to the
school district and possibly dopresentations.
It's a small community.
There are two high schools,there are, I think, two or three
middle schools and really startwith that and then move to a
bigger school district in NorthCarolina and reach them and then
(15:04):
move to somewhere else.
So eventually I would like togo to the whole state of North
Carolina and educate theteenagers about fentanyl and how
deadly it is, and the soonerthe better.
You know, and I'm kind ofcurious where this whole PSA
thing is going to go.
I just started it about a weekago and it's something that's
(15:25):
definitely on my heart and I'mdetermined to get at least one
celebrity to be a spokespersonfor it.
So I'm kind of curious whereit'll go and, like you said,
maybe it will lead to somethingeven more, something more
national.
You know we'll see, but for now, definitely working on my
community and getting those kidseducated and being aware of
(15:46):
fentanyl is there and they maythink they're taking a Percocet
like their mama has in hercabinet or their dad, but it's
not.
You know, and that's one thingthat that really surprised the
parents that, I told them, isthey.
The DEA has tested their pills,that they confiscate the fake,
counterfeit pills and 26% ofthem are fatal.
(16:07):
They have a lethal dose offentanyl.
That's one in four.
Your child has a chance ofdying and that's what happened
to Matthew.
He was that one in four and hepassed away from fentanyl
poisoning.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Yes, it's truly tragic and shocking and I hope
people are scared straightbecause these are facts.
These are facts that everyonein our coalition are presenting
and I hope they are scaredstraight.
We can't hide from this.
It can't be the elephant in theroom anymore.
We must bring this out, we mustdeal with factual information,
(16:43):
we must get this word out andparents are trying across this
nation, just like other peoplethat I've interviewed on this
podcast, and it is.
It's growing.
I have hope.
It's growing every day.
I see that and we have a lotfurther to go with the public
service announcements.
I just want to say thank youand I want you to know that and
(17:09):
I want our audience to know thateach year, tens of thousands of
our young people middle school,high school, 20s and
30-year-olds are dying.
The illicit fentanyl is inevery community schools,
colleges, universities acrossthis country and in every
profession.
(17:31):
Death is never easy to talkabout, especially your child,
wendy.
I admire your strength, yourstrong faith and fortitude.
Thank you for sharing Matthew'sin your story to bring
awareness and to make adifference.
Matthew is remembered as a kind, funny, loving young man, as
(17:53):
you described.
He is forever in your heart andon your mind each and every
moment of your day.
When a child leaves this earth,they never really leave you.
I know, as his mother, you willalways keep talking about him.
You will always, in his honor,choose to fight for his legacy
(18:13):
by educating teens and youngadults about the dangers of
fentanyl and recreational drugusage, in hopes of saving young
adults and their families fromhaving to experience a
heartbreak that your family hashad to endure.
I know you love and miss yoursweet brown-eyed boy every day.
(18:34):
Matthew's life mattered.
The recreational drugs did notdefine him.
Thank you, wendy, god bless you.
Thank you for having me.
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