After Thomas’ Death

A personal take on the national fentanyl crisis

The Mayo Family works to find a better way to change the conversation

By J. Cal Mayo

(Alpha Upsilon–Mississippi ’83)

Shortly after noon on Thursday, April 14, 2022, a classic spring day in Oxford, Mississippi, I visited with David Krouse, my good friend and Ole Miss Kappa Alpha pledge brother, at a favorite lunch spot just off the Square. We reminisced about the beautiful previous weekend in Seaside, Florida, where David and his wife celebrated the marriage of my oldest son, William. While at the wedding, my oldest daughter Virginia delivered my first grandchild, Hayes, in Atlanta. The recent engagement of daughter Callie and the celebration of son Thomas’ 21st birthday only added to the wedding weekend’s festive atmosphere.

A buzz from my cell phone interrupted our conversation.

Caroline, my wife, was calling from Atlanta where she was happily experiencing her first few “grandmother” days with Hayes. “Something is wrong with Thomas,” she stated hurriedly. “You need to get to his condo.”

Last Night

The night before around 6:30, about the time he received a text from his mother with a photo of his new nephew and namesake (“Hayes” was Thomas’ middle name), Thomas and two friends crushed and snorted a couple of Percocet bought off the street. They met their dates at a bar and went to a party at the Sigma Chi house, where Thomas was a member. Later, the three boys contacted the dealer and bought two more Percocet, which they divided and consumed.

Thomas and a group left the frat house for his condo around 10:30. After a few more hours of “late night”, Thomas went to bed. He never woke up.

Early on the morning of Thursday, April 14, 2022, as I struggled to catch my breath during my morning workout, Thomas unconsciously took his last breath as the fentanyl from the fake “Percocet” shut down his respiratory system and killed him. Thomas unwittingly became the

Protecting Against Overdose

the fentanyl crisis continues to expand, we must all learn to spot and deal with a potential overdose.

Overdose Signs

• Small, constricted “pinpoint pupils”

• Falling asleep or losing consciousness

• Slow, weak, or no breathing

• Choking or gurgling sounds

• Limp body

• Cold and/or clammy skin

• Discolored skin (especially in lips and nails)

Action Plan For Suspected Overdose

• Call 911 immediately

Less than five minutes later, an Oxford police officer stopped me at the front door of Thomas’ off campus residence. “Your son is dead,” he told me.

What?

Wait a minute! What? Dead? My son is “dead?” What do you mean, “dead?” latest statistic in our country’s growing fentanyl crisis.

Just the previous afternoon, Thomas and I worked on his resume as he applied for a summer job in Washington, D.C. He was healthy, 21, in the prime of his life. A beautiful girlfriend for whom he cared deeply. Tons of friends. A good student, he was set to graduate in a year. Thomas and I had recently discussed the possibility of law school in his future. The world sat in the palm of his hand. How could he possibly have died?

Fentanyl Facts

Pharmaceutical fentanyl is a synthetic opioid approved for use as an analgesic and anesthetic. Fentanyl is roughly 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin. Used properly, fentanyl provides pain relief to patients with terminal cancer and better operative outcomes for patients during minor surgical procedures.

Illegal fentanyl is dramatically changing the recreational drug landscape in America. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration describes fentanyl as the “single deadliest drug threat our nation has ever encountered.” Fentanyl claims one life

• Administer Naloxone (Narcan), if available

• Try to keep person awake and breathing

• Lay person on side to prevent choking

• Stay with person until emergency assistance arrives every 8.5 minutes. Six out of ten fake prescription pills seized by the DEA contain deadly doses of fentanyl. Fentanyl is involved in more deaths of Americans under age 50 than any other cause of death, including heart disease, cancer, homicide, suicide, and other accidents. Fentanyl, the fastest growing killer of Americans in the 14-23 age group, leads to more American youth deaths than heroin, meth, cocaine, benzos, and prescription drugs combined.

During the 12 months ending in January 2022, over 107,000 people died of drug overdoses and drug poisonings. More than two-thirds of those deaths involved synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Sometimes fentanyl is found in pressed fake prescription pills, like Percocet, Adderall, or Xanax, or illegal pills like Ecstasy. Sometimes fentanyl is cut into cocaine. Sometimes fentanyl is sprayed on weed. Two milligrams (a few grains on the tip of a pencil) can be lethal.

Common street names for illicit fentanyl include Apache, China Girl, China Town, Dance Fever, Friend, Goodfellas, Great Bear, He-Man, Jackpot, King Ivory, Murder 8, and Tango & Cash. Users can inject, snort/sniff, smoke, and swallow fentanyl in various forms. Legal fentanyl patches are cut open to remove the contents or frozen, cut into pieces, and placed under the tongue or in the cheek cavity. Fentanyl produces relaxation, euphoria, pain relief, sedation, confusion, drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, urinary retention, pupillary constriction, and respiratory depression. Fentanyl is cheaper to manufacture than other opioids and highly addictive, making it easier to smuggle in small powerful quantities.

Most states have legalized and are making test strips readily available. The test strips certainly help in preventing overdoses. However, the test strips will only detect fentanyl in the tested portion of the pill, powder, or weed. A negative result does not necessarily “clear” the remaining untested product. The illegal labs used to press the fake pills cannot and do not attempt to uniformly distribute the fentanyl. As a case in point, Thomas’ two friends fortunately survived ingesting the fake “Percocet” without any noticeable adverse effects from the fentanyl. Only Thomas ingested a lethal dose.

A New World on College Campuses

College offers students the chance to experiment, ask questions, and push their limits as they discover themselves and chart their paths. For many students, this includes experimenting with alcohol, drugs, and weed, if they have not started before arriving on campus. College drug users fall into three broad groups: infrequent recreational users, frequent abusers, and users with addiction tendencies. Historically, the final group has faced the most serious, long-term impact from repeated exposure to drugs and alcohol.

Fentanyl is a game changer. Fentanyl does not discriminate between the three groups. Whether a first-time experimental cocaine user or a hard-core Xanax abuser with addiction problems, a dose of fentanyl can lead to the same result . . . death.

Addressing the problem

Following the tragic death of their son from an accidental drug overdose, David and Kent Magee led the creation and opening of the William Magee Institute for Student Wellbeing at the University of Mississippi in 2019. The Institute transforms lives and communities by supporting students at all levels as they develop resiliency and maximize their potential through holistic wellbeing. In short, the Magee Institute recognizes that students of all ages deal with mental health issues of varying types and degrees, seeks to shine a light on this reality, and works to develop programs and resources to assist and empower students.

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William Magee Institute for Student Wellbeing at the University of Mississippi www.themayolab.com

An alarming share of them struggle with mental health concerns, ranging from depression and anxiety to eating disorders and substance addictions. Amid this chaos, the pressing questions of our time remain deceptively simple ones.

How do we talk to our kids?

How do we help them?

We’re working to answer these questions, transforming and saving lives in the process.

After Thomas’ death, Caroline and I selected the Magee Center as a recipient of memorials. We were overwhelmed by the response and worked with David Magee and others at the Magee Institute to create the Thomas Hayes Mayo Lab (themayolab.com) in the fall of 2022. Focused on changing the conversation around student mental health and substance misuse, the Mayo Lab dropped its first eight podcast episodes this spring. The Lab is currently developing age-appropriate educational curricula for use at all levels from grade school to college.

Caroline and I cannot bring Thomas back to life. But we will use his story to help others avoid the mistake he made and to stem the misguided effort to find happiness through the misuse of drugs and alcohol. There is a better way.

The Thomas Hayes Mayo Lab is named for a beloved Ole Miss student who died at 21 of fentanyl poisoning. Our team is sensitive to the heartbreaking dimension of this crisis —and the urgent need for help.

Through innovative programming, including peer-to-peer Happiness Teams and a podcast that combines groundbreaking research with engaging discussions, The Mayo Lab equips parents, educators and students to start conversations that transform and save lives. Our team is also developing a school program to educate middle and high schoolers as well as their teachers and families about how to build healthy habits, communicate concerns and cultivate joy that lasts.