Iowa parents who lost son to fentanyl speak to high school students about mental health, drugs
Two Iowa parents have turned their loss into a lifelong mission: to end the stigma surrounding the conversation on drugs and mental health.
Deric and Kathy Kidd's son, Sebastian, died in July 2021 after he took half a pill of what he thought was Percocet. He was unaware he had actually taken a counterfeit pill that contained a lethal dose of fentanyl.
When vlog spoke to the Kidds in August, they said more people need to be having a conversation about drugs and how it relates to mental health. After the story aired on vlog, Boone High School invited them to have that conversation with 700 students on Wednesday morning.
Deric Kidd spoke about their son's story and the deadly drug, fentanyl, that killed him.
"I still get choked up every time I talk about him," Deric Kidd said. "We have him in our presentation, and I have to catch my breath for a moment...it makes me feel good that he's saving lives."
But Deric Kidd's presentation, he said, wasn't about drugs. It was about why so many teenagers, like his son and those sitting in the stands of the school gymnasium, are turning to drugs in the first place. He discussed mental health issues and how to cope with them in a healthy way.
"They definitely took in all the information, and they had some interesting reactions," Deric Kidd said. "I think they took something from it. We had several kids come up to us afterwards and...it affected them in a positive way."
Wednesday's presentation was part of the Kidd's effort to talk more about drugs and mental health, especially in schools.
"It's very important," Kathy Kidd said. "It's getting rid of that stigma, normalizing the conversation and just letting kids know it's okay to not be okay."
It was a message Boone High School principal Jon Johnson said can't be sugarcoated.
"We wanted students to hear that message because it's real, and we want to be on the front end of that," Johnson said.
Health and law enforcement professionals spoke to students after Deric Kidd. The presentation kicked off a self-care day at the high school. Students spent the rest of the shortened school day doing fun activities like watching movies, making bracelets and playing flag football and learning how to deal with stress.
"Students after high school need to know their math and reading and language arts and social studies," Johnson said. "But they also need to know how to problem solve and overcome adversity in their lives.
Johnson said he plans to organize more school days like this one. It was the first self-care day they've had.
It was also the Kidd's first time speaking to students in this kind of setting. They pray it won't be the last.
"We hope that more schools will take advantage of this," Deric Kidd said.
The Kidds will be speaking to two groups of nursing students Friday in Marshalltown. They will also talk at a medical conference later in November.
They started their son's foundation and started a nonprofit called It initially started out as just a place to help grieving families, but it soon evolved into an educational tool.