LOCKPORT, N.Y. (WKBW) — One family is turning mourning a loved one's death into action to prevent further tragedies.
The problem of opioid deaths is plaguing communities around the country and here at home.
The latest data from the Erie County Department of Health shows through the end of July this year, 245 people died of opioid overdoses countywide.
The county stated about 4 out 5 cases involved cocaine, often laced with fentanyl.
A young woman from Clarence whose cousin died from an accidental overdose, reached out to us about this very issue in the hopes of amplifying the voices of families who have lost loved ones to overdoses.
7 News' Pheben Kassahun spoke with her to find out how she is trying to help stop the epidemic of drug abuse in her community.
It is a day Alexa Friedman and her family will never forget.
May 6th, 2022 is the day her cousin, Beau Miller, died from an accidental overdose.
"He went out with a couple of friends one night, spent $25 and bought a pill he thought was Percocet and it ended up being 100% fentanyl. He was only 18 years old and no one in our family knew that he had a problem until he passed," Alexa Friedman said.
Unbeknownst to his family, the Lockport native had been struggling with addiction.
At one point he had to be resuscitated multiple times.
"The school never told my aunt. He had stopped attending classes and they dismissed him from the school and said it was due to attendance. Never said why. We finally found out this wasn't a one-time thing. This was an ongoing issue from his friends at his funeral," Friedman said.
While their beloved Beau will never return, Friedman hopes to help other families who are going trough similar situations hoping this will help them heal.
Just a few months ago, she created "Accidental Angels". It is an LLC with plans to become a 501c nonprofit.
It will be aimed at raising awareness about the dangers of fentanyl to teens and young adults - and how to help someone who is overdosing.
"We want to provide funding for grief counseling for families and friends. We want to be able to support funeral expenses and create a group aspect where we can bring families together who are sharing similar pain to rely on each other," Friedman.
Another thing on her radar is creating: Beau's Bill which she has already connected with a few Western New York lawmakers on this.
This is in regards to requiring colleges and universities to send emergency contact forms home with students.
"If my aunt had known there was an emergency contact form, she would have signed it immediately. So, with Beau's Bill, I want to make it a requirement for all schools to send home these emergency contact forms with those other important paperwork. You run into kind of a sticky issue with HIPPA laws and that's why on this form I would like it to say, 'We wish to have an emergency contact form and you can sign there or we would wish to not have an emergency contact form," Friedman said.
The Lockport native would have turned 20 years old on Sunday if he were still alive.
