Moms who lost children to fentanyl poisonings warn parents about deadly drug: 'This can happen to anyone'

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Mothers who lost children to fentanyl overdose share their stories

Tanya Niederman and April Babcock open up about how America's fentanyl crisis impacted their families on 'The Story with Martha MacCallum.'

After losing their sons to fentanyl poisoning, two mothers shared their stories on Fox News Thursday with the mission of educating parents about the dangers of the deadly drug and the shared hope of saving others from suffering the same fate.

Tanya Niederman lost her 19-year-old son J.J.  in Feb. 2021 after he ingested a recreational drug that was laced with fentanyl in his bedroom of the family's Mantua, New Jersey home. 

Niederman told "The Story" that her son was not an active drug user. At the time, he was attending Rowan University and working part-time. He was "doing everything right," she said. 

"On Feb. 11, 2021, if you'd have asked me if my son had ever tried drugs I would have told you no," a tearful Niederman said. "I didn't know much if anything about fentanyl. When they told us that that's what ultimately took his life, I was shocked. I really truly didn't know much about it and I wish I did."

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Mexican cartels are mass-producing fentanyl pills in rainbow colors.  ( U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA))

Niederman said she is turning her pain into purpose and is speaking out about the dangers associated with the synthetic opioid to encourage other parents to have the difficult conversations with their children about drug use.

"Now, I have to have conversations with my daughters about drugs. Recreational drug use is not a thing. You cannot try something one time. Some people think that it can’t happen to them… it can," she said. "This past year, it's been rough. I have to try to wake up every day and live without him. Part of my journey has been to spread the message that this can truly happen to anyone."

April Babcock understands Niederman's pain. She lost her 25-year-old son Austen to fentanyl poisoning in 2019. On "The Story," she described her son as an "awesome kid" and a "mama's boy" with a bright future. He was a "star soccer player" and goalie. His future was cut short when Austen ingested crack laced with the synthetic drug and overdosed, she said. 

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Babcock said she began to notice a change in her son after his sudden dismissal from his high school soccer team during his senior year, because he received two failing grades. Frustrated and lost, Austen started hanging out with a new group of friends who experimented with drugs and alcohol.

Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS) troopers seized more than 26 pounds of fentanyl pills at a Border Patrol checkpoint near Gila Bend on Sept. 23, 2022.  (Arizona Department of Public Safety)

"He loved soccer but when he was kicked off, his whole group of friends changed," Babcock told host Martha MacCallum. "So from the age of 19, he didn’t last very long. He started at 19 with marijuana, alcohol. I think he was doing some Xanax here and there."

But Babcock is certain that her son was not suicidal. She calls her son’s death a "drug-induced homicide."

"He [had] just got his haircut. he had plans to go out that night," she said." Americans are literally being deceived and poisoned to death."

Babcock has repeatedly called on lawmakers and officials to increase enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border to stop the flow of illicit drugs into the U.S.

"Within three hours of ingesting fentanyl for the people that don’t die, they are already having withdrawal symptoms," she said. "It is so cheap and it’s so addictive – the cartels are smart. They know how to get everyone hooked. So now, they are targeting our youth with pills."

"Truthfully, my opinion is, this should be the number one health crisis right now," Niederman agreed. "This is what’s killing the most Americans and kids. I don’t understand how there’s not more being done. This isn’t on billboards all over the country."

Babcock said that while "closing the border would be a good start," she believes the U.S. government should issue a "COVID-like response" to raise public awareness about the silent killer.

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U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shared an image of blue fentanyl pills, multi-colored fentanyl pills and methamphetamine recently seized at the Port of Nogales, Arizona.  (U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) )

"We're almost 10 years deep into a fentanyl crisis and we still have no public warning campaign coming from the White House down. It has to come from the White House," she said.

Niederman said the government should focus on educating parents, teachers, coaches and school counselors about the lethality of fentanyl so they can communicate with America's youth.

"I want the world to know who my son was. He was a good kid. He was kind, funny, and he was so loved," she said. "He had so much life to live. And I think if parents and teachers and coaches and people who are involved in youth…see this, you have to speak out and say something because I truly wish I had more conversations with him about the dangers of drugs. 

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"I didn’t know a lot about it," Niederman added. "But now I literally will say the word to anyone who will listen because I don’t ever want to see another family go through what we have been through. It is ugly. It is so ugly."