Grieving Family Shares Heartbreaking Story At Fentanyl Awareness Rally

As the nation and Oklahoma are in a fentanyl crisis, family members and others rallied outside the Tulsa County Courthouse today as part of International Overdose Awareness Day. The fentanyl awareness rally was put on by the group called Friends Supporting Friends.

Related: Families Gather In Remembrance Of Loved Ones At Fentanyl Awareness Rally

The Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics says the number of fentanyl overdose deaths jumped from 47 in 2019 to 297 in 2021.

One family at the rally says their son was an addict and died last year from fentanyl, but they say he was more than just an addict. They say he was a loving and good person and didn't deserve to die. They hope sharing his story will encourage other young adults and children to stay away from drugs because it's not worth your life.

"This will tear your life apart. For every child that dies, there's 30 people behind them that's lives are ruined,” said Jimmy Gotham, who lost his son last year to fentanyl.

Jimmy and Sherri Gotham saw the Friends Supporting Friends Fentanyl Awareness Rally on the news Thursday morning and immediately got in their car and headed to the Tulsa County Courthouse.

"When I walked up here, I told my wife, this is a club I don't want to be a member of. It's heartbreaking to know there are this many children dying,” said Jimmy.

Jimmy and Sherri knew they were surrounded by people at the rally who felt the same pain all too well. They lost their son Dustin last year to a fentanyl overdose. They say Dustin battled addiction for ten years, got clean, and then had some knee pain, so he borrowed a pain pill from a coworker. Dustin didn’t know the half pill was laced with fentanyl, and it killed him.

"He had a big heart. A very gentle soul. There's more to addicts than what people see,” said Sherri.

The rally is about bringing awareness to the dangers of drugs and attacking the problem. District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler says it’s about going after the drug dealers, who are killing people.

"Fentanyl is just running rampant, and we have people who are under the age of 21 who are addicted and getting into fentanyl and opioids, who are dying. Why can't we get the urgency that we had with Covid and say this is a deadly threat that we already know of,” said Kunzweiler.

Kunzweiler wants to see law enforcement agencies have specialized officers who investigate overdoses and figure out how the person got that drug.