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After losing his 20-year-old son Brandon to a fentanyl overdose on Nov. 4, 2022, Fairfax County resident Mark Crutchfield is sharing his family’s story in hopes of preventing other deaths.
Crutchfield remembers Brandon as a quick-witted young man who loved sports and acting and enjoyed making people laugh. Although Brandon grew up hearing strong warnings about drugs, his father said the loss showed him that addiction and fentanyl can reach families from every background.
A licensed counselor who works in addiction treatment, Crutchfield now advocates through Angel Army and Fentanyl Fathers. The groups bring bereaved parents into schools, libraries and community centers to speak directly about the opioid crisis.
Fentanyl Fathers was founded by parents whose children died from fentanyl poisoning. Angel Army emerged from a partnership involving Fentanyl Fathers, the grief-support nonprofit Eric’s House and Victoria’s Voice Foundation, which Jackie Siegel and her late husband, David Siegel, established after their 18-year-old daughter Victoria died from an accidental drug overdose.
Crutchfield said the people he has met since Brandon’s death represent every income level and part of society. Today’s drugs, he warned, are increasingly potent, addictive and deadly.
“It doesn’t matter what your background is or where you came from. It can happen to anybody,” he said.
Crutchfield believes prevention must begin with steady, honest conversations at home. He urges parents to ask children about their emotions and mental health instead of focusing solely on grades and other outward signs of success.
“You can have a straight-A kid and miss the signs,” he said.
His advocacy is driven by grief as well as the hope that other parents can avoid the same loss. He cautioned against believing that intelligence or experience can protect someone from fentanyl, which can be deadly after a single use.
Losing a child to drugs also leaves parents struggling with pain, frustration and unanswered questions about whether they could have recognized a warning or intervened differently, Crutchfield said. Working with Angel Army gives families an opportunity to direct that pain toward helping others.
“We’re trying not to waste our pain and take our pain and make it make a difference for other people,” he said. “Our loved ones are gone, they’re not coming back. But our goal is to try to make sure that our story doesn’t become somebody else’s story.”
Crutchfield and other parents will speak at 7 p.m. Feb. 4 at Rust Library in Leesburg. He is encouraging people of all ages and backgrounds to attend.
By telling Brandon’s story, Crutchfield hopes to start family conversations about fentanyl and drug use before another crisis occurs—and before another family is left grieving.