AP Archive
2 Sons Gone, Mother Tells Opioid Story to Senate
(8 Feb 2018) A nurse who started a foundation with her husband after losing two of her sons on the same day to a mix of alcohol and prescription painkillers less than three years ago brought her story to the U.S. Senate on Thursday.
Becky Savage lost her two older sons, 19-year-old Nick, and 18-year-old Jack, after they attended high school graduation parties in June 2015, and died hours later at home due to a mix of opioids and alcohol.
"How could two boys who have always seemed to make good decisions in life, make such a choice that would ultimately cost them their life," she asked.
"My husband and I don't understand how could this happen," she said.
"We may never know the answers to all of these questions, but what we do know is that bringing awareness to this issue could save a life," she said.
Amid their grief, Savage and her husband formed the 525 Foundation to spread awareness about the dangers of opioid addiction, and the danger to young people of mixing alcohol with opioids. Both of her sons played hockey, and the teens wore the respective numbers "5" and "25" on their uniforms.
"You can hear a pin drop in many of the auditoriums I speak in," she said. "If we can reach one person every time we tell their story, then we have made a difference."
Savage told lawmakers the 525 Foundation partners with local police and fire departments, and holds "pill drops" to get opioids off the street.
"At our last community pill drop, we collected over 500 pounds of unused or expired prescription medications," Savage said.
"When you think that just one pill could take a life, that's a lot of lives saved."
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