Air Force Academy graduate loses son to fentanyl, shares story with cadets
AIR FORCE ACADEMY — On Tuesday, a United States Air Pressure Academy graduate and veteran returned to the academy, however to not focus on his time within the service.
As an alternative, Chris Didier talked about his son.
“I’ve three kids, and my youngest is Zach, and we misplaced him on December 27, 2020. Two days after Christmas,” Didier advised the auditorium stuffed with cadets graduating in 2026.
Zach Didier, 17, died because of fentanyl poisoning. He was a straight-A pupil, a record-setting observe star, and gifted musician with no prior historical past of drug use.
Zach and his mates bought what they believed have been percocet tablets, however they have been counterfeit and contained fentanyl. After a standard night, watching Christmas films together with his household, Zach died on December 27, 2020.
“If you find yourself coping with the loss of a kid, it’s on the prime of any good mum or dad’s grief hierarchy, however when it is the loss of a kid from a hazard you’ve got by no means heard of earlier than, it units in an incredible quantity of confusion and disorientation,” mentioned Didier, who had no thought what fentanyl was till his son’s dying.
Didier returned to his alma mater to warn cadets, and everybody else, concerning the risks of illicit tablets. He has shared his story everywhere in the nation.
“We will select to make use of our ache to construct a fortress, to cover from the world, or we will use our ache to be a gas to altering,” mentioned Didier.
After his presentation, cadets shook arms with Didier, thanking him for sharing his story and confiding that a few of them misplaced mates in comparable methods.
“Having been a graduate, I do know the stress and the trials of the curricular he within the cadet wing, and what the cadets are uncovered to,” mentioned Didier, making an attempt to stop cadets from turning to medicine as a coping mechanism.
Didier additionally arms out playing cards labeled “One Tablet Can Kill”. These playing cards can slot in a pockets and have an inventory of emergency sources on the again:
- Disaster Hotline: Textual content 741741 for twenty-four/7 assist
- Disaster Chat: Crisischat.org
- Suicide Disaster Line: Dial 988 or 800-852-8336
- Say One thing: Saysomething.internet or Dial 844-572-9669
- Home Violence Hotline: Dial 714-935-7956
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