According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fentanyl is fueling a growing number of overdose deaths in the U.S. Epidemiologists say that’s also the case in Alaska.
Those deaths are leaving grieving families behind and catching some by surprise. Julie Bouchard of Palmer said she never considered her son Taegge an addict. He died in July 2021 of a fentanyl overdose. She was close to him, which is why a confession he made took her completely off guard.
Less than a month later, Taegge was gone. His father found him dead in bed. He’d died of a massive fentanyl overdose. Bouchard said she was comforted by the fact that the medical examiner told her it’s likely Taegge went to sleep and simply didn’t wake up. He said the amount of fentanyl in her son’s system was four times the lethal dose. But she still can’t quite understand how it could happen.
Taegge has joined a group of parents who’ve experienced a similar loss. They’re turning their grief to action, pushing for more drug education in schools and talking to legislators about what can be done to keep fentanyl from spreading.