'A nightmare I can't wake up from': Michigan mom calls for changes after sodium nitrite deaths tied to Canadian
CTV
A Michigan mom is speaking out after her teenage son died after consuming a product ordered online from a company tied to a Mississauga man facing charges of aiding and abetting suicide,
NOTE: If you or anyone you know is struggling with mental health there are a number of ways to get help, including by calling Talk Suicide Canada at 1-833-456-4566. More services can be found on the CAMH website.
A Michigan mom is speaking out after her teenage son died after consuming a product ordered online from a company tied to a Mississauga man facing charges of aiding and abetting suicide, as Canadian politicians propose new rules to make tech giants more accountable for what they promote and sell.
Tonia Jones joins a growing number of anguished parents whose families were changed forever after a delivery from companies connected to sodium nitrite sold by Kenneth Law — and believes her 17-year-old son Anthony should be still alive today.
“That was my youngest son. He’ll be forever 17,” Jones told CTV News from Detroit. “No other family should have to go through what we have gone through. It’s devastating. I can’t sleep. It’s like a nightmare I can’t wake up from.”
Jones said that last year her son ingested something he ordered online — and rushed to her in the early morning hours in a panic.
“He came running into my room, saying, ‘Mom, I did something.’ I said, ‘What did you do?’ He said ‘I need to go to the hospital.’ He kept saying, ‘I want to live, I want to live,’” she remembered.
Paramedics couldn’t save him, and he was pronounced dead hours later. Jones’ lawyers said paramedics could tell it was sodium nitrite but there was no indication of what treatment should be on the packaging, and officials couldn’t determine the antidote — methylene blue — fast enough.