East TN mother shares warning after losing daughter to overdose

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Overall, drug overdose deaths are trending in the right direction for 2024 according to the Metro Drug Coalition. However, the nonprofit is worried about a sharp rise in deaths among those 15 to 24 years old.

One mother has felt the increase first-hand after her 21-year-old daughter died from an overdose.

According to the Metro Drug Coalition, there was a 5% decrease in drug overdose deaths for 2023 when compared to 2022.

“It’s important to not shame and guilt those individuals,” Brandon Styles with the Metro Drug Coalition said. “It’s important to create that open line of communication with them so if they do see that or experience that in their friend group they can actually talk about it.”

Though that downward trend looks to continue this year, there is a statistic catching the eyes of MDC: the sharpest increase in overdose deaths among those aged 15 to 24.

“Either, their friend group or they get ahold of something and they’re not really sure what it is,” Styles said. “They take it and they don’t even have to be addictive at that point to experience the overdose.”

Elisabeth Feggans lost her daughter, Briona Parsley, at 21 years old to an overdose. Feggans said her daughter was the salutatorian of her high school and loved being with her friends.

“She had been fighting her addiction and she had been with me for two weeks,” Feggans said. “I had knee surgery and she went to a friend’s house and said she would be back in a few hours and then I got a phone call.”

Feggans wears a necklace in memory of her daughter with a warning to other parents.

“It’s a very hard conversation. The conversation that I had with my daughter was that it seems like something cool to do or something that everybody is doing and nobody thinks that it’s going to kill you,” Feggans said. “It gets ahold of you and it’s something that you can’t stop.”

Styles encourages parents to have honest conversations with their kids.

“It’s so important to continue having the conversations and finding the resources so that way when someone actually needs the help they have the opportunity and resource to take advantage of that,” Styles said.

So far this year, there have been 215 overdose deaths according to the Metro Drug Coalition.

If you want more information Metro Drug Coalition is hosting an International Drug Awareness Day on August 30 from 2 to 8 p.m. at the Knoxville Convention Center.

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