Courtesy of Avery Kalafatas
Aidan Mullin died of an accidental fentanyl overdose in 2020.
It was a crisp November morning in Ross, California, a town north of San Francisco. Fifteen-year-old Avery Kalafatas and her mom were walking home after getting coffee at their favorite café. A ringing cell phone shattered the peaceful moment.
Avery’s mom answered the call. Suddenly, her face crumpled in pain. Avery knew right away that something terrible had happened.
Indeed, the family had just received devastating news: Avery’s beloved cousin Aidan had died. He was only 18.
Avery remembers Aidan as a kind and adventurous soul. He loved spending time outdoors, whether it was hiking, fishing, or camping under the stars. Aidan was a gifted guitar player and grew his own peppers for cooking. To Avery, he was like a big brother. They grew up not far from each other, celebrating holidays and taking vacations together. Avery recalls the fun of exploring California’s Yosemite National Park with Aidan. “Part of my love for the outdoors is because of him,” she says.
Aidan dreamed of turning his passion for nature into a career. He’d been accepted into a college in northern California, where he planned to study environmental science, focusing on conservation.
But those plans were tragically cut short when Aidan took what he thought was Percocet, a painkiller that is prescribed by doctors for pain. The pill, which he purchased without a prescription through social media, wasn’t Percocet, however. It was a fake version of the painkiller that contained a deadly drug called fentanyl. That one pill killed Aidan.
Avery didn’t know much about fentanyl at the time. But she soon learned that, like Aidan, thousands of teens and young adults have died from fentanyl poisoning without ever knowing they took the drug.
After Aidan’s death, Avery was overcome with sadness. But as she educated herself about the dangers of fentanyl, her grief began to turn into frustration—and then anger.
If this is such a big issue, why aren’t more people talking about it? she wondered.
So Avery made it her mission to change that.
It was a November morning in Ross, California. Fifteen-year-old Avery Kalafatas was on a walk with her mom. Suddenly, the ringing of a cell phone shattered their peaceful moment.
Avery’s mom answered the call. Then her face crumpled in pain. Avery knew that something terrible had happened.
Indeed, the family had just received devastating news. Avery’s beloved cousin Aidan had died. He was only 18.
Avery remembers Aidan as kind and adventurous. He loved spending time outdoors. He hiked, fished, and camped. He was also a gifted guitar player. He grew his own peppers for cooking. To Avery, he was like a big brother. They grew up not far from each other. They celebrated holidays and took vacations together. Avery explored California’s Yosemite National Park with Aidan. “Part of my love for the outdoors is because of him,” she says.
Aidan dreamed of a career in nature. He’d been accepted into a college in northern California. He planned to study environmental science, focusing on conservation.
But then Aidan took a pill that he thought was Percocet. That’s a painkiller. It is prescribed by doctors for pain. He purchased the pill without a prescription through social media. But it wasn’t Percocet. It was a fake version of the painkiller. It contained fentanyl, a deadly drug. That one pill killed Aidan.
At the time, Avery didn’t know much about fentanyl. But she soon learned that thousands of teens and young adults have died from fentanyl poisoning without ever knowing they took the drug.
After Aidan’s death, Avery was overcome with sadness. But as she educated herself about fentanyl, her grief turned into frustration. Then it turned into anger.
If this is such a big issue, why aren’t more people talking about it? she wondered.
So Avery made it her mission to change that.
