Colorado mother works to help others after son's fentanyl death

For Jamie Carson, Red Rocks Park in Colorado is filled with memories of her son, Parker Johnson.

"He would come here. He would do a concert here. He would hike here," the Lakewood woman said.

It's the memories of what Parker loved -- and who he was -- that Carson holds on to now.

"He was just so caring. He had such a soft heart for people," she said.

Parker's struggle with addiction started with alcohol.

"He started out having an alcohol problem. It was never a drug problem," Carson said.

But Carson said his struggles eventually altered the course of his life.

"Unfortunately, in his teenage years he started getting into some rough stuff that changed his life," she said.

Then came the phone call no mother ever wants to receive. The night before Mother's Day in 2024, Carson learned that Parker -- her second child and first son -- had overdosed on fentanyl.

"It's been really rough," she said.

Carson is now turning that grief into action.

According to the Common Sense Institute Colorado, since December 2024, synthetic opioid overdose deaths in Colorado have grown at the third-fastest rate in the country, increasing 17%.

"We're in a crisis with fentanyl," Carson said.

Carson has partnered with Harrison Patuto, founder of A Chance at Recovery, to help people trying to break free from addiction.

Patuto said the organization works to connect people in recovery with the resources they need.

"I would like to consider us not only a scholarship fund, but resource brokers," Patuto said.

The nonprofit provides needs-based financial assistance to help people in early recovery access safe, supportive sober living.

For Carson, the mission is especially personal because Parker himself benefited from sober living through a scholarship. She said that experience showed her firsthand how life-changing access to those resources can be.

After Parker's death, Carson helped organize a fundraiser in 2024 that raised thousands of dollars and helped several men secure sober living support.

Now, she's continuing that work in Parker's memory -- helping others access the same kinds of scholarships and resources that once helped her son.

"To see these people have the opportunity to save their own lives and get back the things they have been missing for so long, it was such a big impact," Carson said.

Carson's advocacy has taken her beyond Colorado. She traveled to Times Square in August for the National Fentanyl Prevention Press Conference and said she is also preparing for a Zoom meeting with the DEA after making connections during the New York event.

Through it all, she said she knows Parker would want her to keep going.

"I know he would be looking down saying, 'Mom, make a difference,'" Carson said.

Carson couldn't save Parker, but she hopes the work she's doing now can help save someone else.

Learn more at achanceatrecovery.org.