Granger Mom Loses Sons In Same Night To Opioids

GRANGER, IN — A Granger woman is on a mission to spare others the pain she's endured after losing both her sons in the same night to opioids. According to STAT, Becky Savage calls this pain "a big black abyss," as she often shares the story of June 14, 2015 with students and parents. STAT says the nurse recalls the morning when she found her 18-year-old son Jack without a pulse in his bedroom, as a firefighter was unable to resuscitate him.

According to STAT, Savage saw more first responders rush down to her basement that morning after the boys went to graduation parties with their friends. Stat reports that while emergency officials were called for Jack, a second 911 call was made from the basement, by the friend of her 19-year-old son Nick. Nick also didn't wake up.

Nick and Jack Savage both died of an accidental overdose of alcohol and oxycodone, and the next month, two teenagers were charged with providing the drinks and pills that killed both of Savage's sons in the same night.

Nick and Jack were two of the 4,235 people between the ages of 15 and 24 who died of drug overdoses in the U.S. in 2015, which have tripled since 2000, according to STAT, adding there were more than 52,000 deaths in that year across all age groups in the U.S.

Since losing both her sons in the ongoing opioid crisis, STAT says Savage has made it her mission to talk about the dangers of opioid abuse, whether it be at parent meetings, school rallies, or to strangers while she's out.

While law enforcement officials and government officials work to loosen the deadly grip this crisis has, STAT says Savage is telling parents to get in their kids' faces about the dangers of opioid use.

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Savage started the 525 Foundation in 2017, as she named it after Nick and Jack’s hockey numbers, 5 and 25 — to further her advocacy work. STAT reports Savage believes her story has power more intense than statistics and lectures kids often hear in school, admitting she constantly told her boys to not do drugs, drink, but never talked to them about prescription drugs.

Her goal is to prevent teens from even trying opioids a first time, telling parents to tell their kids over and over again to not take opioids, and to get rid of unused medication.

>>More on Becky Savage's story via STAT

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