Amid the unprecedented surge of fentanyl disguised as other substances, a single unprescribed pill can be deadly. This harsh reality struck close to home for a New York family who lost their daughter in 2022. Fox News reported that Paige Gibbons, a 19-year-old freshman at Hobart and William Smith Colleges with aspirations of becoming a doctor, believed she was taking a Percocet with her friends on November 20 of that year.
"She was at a friend's house, the parents were home, and she and her friend were going to take a Percocet, which she thought was a Percocet," said her father, David Gibbons of Pittsford, New York. "Unbeknownst to them it was not a Percocet, it was 100% fentanyl."
At 1:05 p.m. that day, David and his wife, Kate, had their lives irrevocably altered when a sheriff's deputy knocked on their door to inform them that their daughter had overdosed.
"It was the loudest yell I'd heard in my life. I thought it was an intruder or something, because why was she screaming?" David said of his wife's reaction to the unthinkable news.
Paige was with two friends when she overdosed. The media outlet reported that one of them had purchased the pills over social media.
One of her friends almost died, David said in an interview with New York's Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS). The other, who elected not to take the pill, "witnessed one of the worst things a teenager could witness in their lives," David said.
"She trusted, maybe, her friend or her friend trusted somebody that they knew," said Paige's mother, Kate. "We just thought of her as a little naive in that respect. Unfortunately, it cost her her life."
Paige's death was a complete shock to her parents, who never saw her as a troublemaker or drug user. This perception was later confirmed through conversations with her friends.
"One mistake was obviously Paige's worst mistake in her whole life," David said. "We don't want her to be judged for the worst mistake she made."
"It's caused havoc in our life," David said. "The milestones I was hoping to have - a first grand-baby, going to a wedding, her graduating from college, her helping other people - none of these things are going to happen with Paige."
Paige's parents said she aspired to become a doctor and "had her sights set high on making a positive impact in the world."
Though she passed away young, Paige left a lasting impression at Our Lady of Mercy High School in Rochester, New York. There, she taught her classmates CPR specifically for women. Since the school only had male-bodied mannequins, Paige used her own money to purchase female models for her classmates to practice on.
With her dreams tragically cut short, Paige's parents are now sharing her story in hopes that she can continue to help others, potentially sparing another family from the heartache they've endured.
Their story is one of several featured in "Addiction: The Next Step," a 30-minute film created by OASAS to educate New York residents about the escalating issue.
"I can't believe that we still hear people, you know, having this same exact situation," Kate said. "I want to shout it from the mountaintops and make sure that everyone knows: Expect that it will happen to you; expect that you will die if you try this."
"Think about this when you decide if you're going to take a pill or do some drug that's been presented to you. Do you want to see your mom's face mourning you?"
"It doesn't discriminate," David said. "Socioeconomically, race, religion. You take a pill, and you have a potential of dying that night."
Fentanyl is more than 50 times more potent than heroin.
