‘Forever 19’: Derby mother speaks of son lost to fentanyl as awareness program kicks off
Christie McCullough got home from work on the evening of March 30, 2022 and she heard what she thought was her son, 19-year-old Keith McCullough, recording music in his room.
Keith had aspirations of becoming a rapper, his mother told The Eagle.
“He was in there making beats and writing lyrics. As his parents, we both knew not to disturb him when he was recording or he would have to start over and that was not fun,” McCullough said.
She would later go into her son’s room and find out he had not been recording music.
“My son was dead,” the Derby mother said.
Keith had taken what he thought was a Percocet pill — it was laced with fentanyl, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
“I lifted his head and I could see foaming stuff coming from his mouth and nose. I had 911 on the phone the entire time when I tried to revive him. I knew deep down it would not bring him back,” McCullough said.
Keith’s death along with over dozens of other fentanyl deaths in Sedgwick County have pushed law enforcement and community partners to launch a fentanyl awareness program named “One Pill Can Kill.”
The initiative comes as Sedgwick County is on track to exceed 300 deaths from fentanyl this year, Sheriff Jeff Easter said. There were 242 fentanyl deaths in 2021, according to a news release.
“So many drugs are now laced with fentanyl. Some people don’t know what they’re taking before it’s too late,” Easter said.
“Our son thought he was taking half of a Percocet,” McCullough said. “He had taken half the day before, but that last half was where the lethal amount of fentanyl was.”
McCullough said Keith was a normal curious teen who had started to experiment with stimulants, many of which were featured in the music he listened to.
“Many people will say ‘not my kid’ and I know that because we’ve said that,” McCullough said. “People are so quick to judge when it comes to drug-related deaths. The drugs that are killing our kids today is actually poison.”
To educate the public, the initiative has a website with short videos describing the danger of fentanyl, secret emoji codes used in drug trafficking and how to spot signs of addiction and overdose.
McCullough said she will continue to advocate for her son in the hope that it will save lives.
“He was such a beautiful human being that made a choice and paid the ultimate price for that. If there had not been fentanyl in that half of the pill, our son would still be here and not forever 19,” McCullough said.
This story was originally published September 8, 2022 at 6:35 PM.