"It's the worst experience any parent could go through. As if it's not enough to lose your son, but to have to tell your two children that they lost their brother is heart-wrenching."
- Geoff Soper, Clay's Dad
Our world changed forever in the early morning of July 18th, 2015. We never believed this could happen to our son or family. Our son’s accidental death shouldn’t have occurred. Clay died because of what he and his friends didn’t know.
Clay was 19, almost 20. He was a thriving college student home for the summer. At a party, he and his friends mixed Xanax and alcohol, which caused Clay's respiratory system and heart to stop. No one saw it coming, and no one thought Clay was in any danger that night. He and his friends made a wrong decision that is common in today's party culture. Neither Clay nor his friends knew about the risks surrounding the misuse and abuse of prescription drugs, and it cost Clay his life.
Days after Clay's death, his friends came to support one another. As they struggled to understand how this tragedy could have happened to their friend, the phrase "he didn't know ... we didn't know" was repeated over and over. The idea of producing a documentary about how tragedy can happen to anyone was born. Clay's friends needed his death to have a purpose and for people to know and learn from their loss. They wanted to tell their story truthfully and differently - in a way that would resonate with their contemporaries and capture the attention of other teens. The life-saving message comes from Clay's friends and peers, not actors. The takeaway is genuine and very impactful.
Unfortunately, today the risks surrounding prescription drug abuse among teens goes beyond recreational misuse. Many young people (often who are struggling with their emotional health) are turning to the internet or the street to purchase illicit prescription drugs. This has become a dangerous trend and accidental teen deaths caused by fentanyl-laced prescription drugs are occurring nationwide. In the new release of "If They Had Known" we've decided to address this current crisis and have expanded the conversation to include the story of Drew Pelusi -
a young man whose life was cut short at age 23 after he unknowingly purchased counterfeit Xanax online to help manage his anxiety. Drew's story told by his parents, is a warranting to teens about the dangers of attempting to self-medicate emotional health with prescription drugs purchased online or off the street. For Drew, it only took one bad pill to trigger his addiction and ultimately, cost him his life.
Until the documentary program "If They Had Known," educational information about the dangers of misusing and abusing prescrip-tion drugs was not readily available, and the risks were unknown. Never before has misusing and abusing prescription drugs been more dangerous and the lack of knowledge surrounding prescrip-tion drug risks puts our kids at risk.
Educating, engaging, and empowering our youth with information is our mission. Teens misusing and abusing prescription drugs FOR ANY REASON needs to end. We want teens to understand these
5 key points to help save their life or the life of a friend:
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Mixing prescription drugs with alcohol can be toxic
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Accidents can (and do) happen to anyone
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Don't hesitate to get help if someone needs it, every minute counts
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Self-medicating your anxiety, stress or depression with unprescribed prescription drugs is a risk not worth taking
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Purchasing prescription drugs online or off the street is extemely dangerous - don't do it.
The risks our teens face today are greater than ever before. The documentary program "If They Had Known" is an honest account of two avoidable deaths. The film, combined with the Program Toolkit, catalyzes peer-to-peer discussions about the dangers surrounding the misuse and abuse of prescription drugs and provides our teens with crucial information that is critical to saving lives.
"If They Had Known" is a program of the Clay Soper Memorial Fund. The Clay Soper Memorial Fund, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, was established in 2016 by Clay's family; Geoff, Genny, Ted, and Allie Soper. The Soper family shares their story to honor Clay's life and prevent other families from experiencing the same tragedy.
