On November 17, 2021, the CDC released grim data on the deaths from drug overdoses for the 12 months ending in April 2021 in the United States. That number is estimated to be at 100,306, a 30% increase in deaths compared to 2019. This is unacceptable, and preventable with the proper education.
As a retired physician and realizing the devastating impact of the opioid crisis, Faustino Bernadett donated to Song for Charlie.
After the sudden loss of their son Charlie, Ed and Mary Ternan created Song for Charlie with one goal: to bring awareness to counterfeit prescription pills being sold online targeting young people.
Here is some background on Song for Charlie from the organization's website.
About Charlie
Charlie Ternan was a regular guy, just like many of the guys you know. He was a good friend, and he had a bunch of them. He was in love. He liked to party with his fraternity brothers. He was a movie buff and had great taste in music. He was smart and a really good student (mostly, when he applied himself). He brought people together. Everyone loved his laugh - loud and contagious.
Like you and your friends, Charlie also had his challenges. He was unsure of his future after college. He was trying to find his place in the world. He wasn’t really sure what he wanted to do for a career. He experienced the normal angst of a young adult in this fast-paced world.
Charlie was familiar with Xanax and sometimes took one when he had time to chill and play video games. He also knew about Percocet, which he had been prescribed after his 2018 back surgery. Self-medicating with prescription pills is socially acceptable these days. After all, they are safe medicines, right?
How He Died
Charlie was found by his friends, unresponsive in his room, around 8:45pm on a Thursday. They tried their best to revive him, but it was too late. He was 22 years old and three weeks away from his college graduation. Initial reports from first responders suggested that Charlie had died hours before, sometime in the late afternoon. They said the likely cause of death was an accidental overdose of prescription pills.
None of this made sense to Charlie’s family and friends. Charlie didn’t have a substance abuse issue. Besides, how many pills would our 6’2”, 235-pound Charlie have to take to fatally overdose?
As it turns out, it only takes one – if that pill is made of fentanyl. We learned that Charlie had purchased a Percocet online because his back was hurting. But it wasn’t real. It was a “fentapill.” We think Charlie took the pill around 3pm and died within 30 minutes. He never had a chance.
Charlie's Song's Mission
Growing up in our fast-paced world is stressful. Song for Charlie is a family-run, nonprofit charity that encourages young people to choose healthy coping strategies over self-medication. We empower students to learn and share knowledge by providing research tools and promoting peer-to-peer learning programs.
Would you like to know how you can support Song for Charlie and make a meaningful impact on the opioid crisis along with Faustino Bernadett?
There are several ways:
Are you an educator? Song for Charlie provides educational resources and classroom lesson materials for middle school and high school teachers. The resources can be found here.
Help Song for Charlie to realize their vision in which the casual use of prescription pills is considered socially unacceptable, and in which sharing random pills is uncool. They endeavor to change the ‘quick fix’ mindset of self-medication in favor of more organic and sustainable strategies for managing stress and anxiety. To accomplish these goals, we must break through the noise and communicate with young people on their terms – go where they are; speak their language; and get them talking.
With your help, we can spread the word and save lives.
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