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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, Ju ne 13 ,2 01 9 | 2 DON'T SWEAT IT.WE'VE GOTYOU COVERED. HVAC& PLUMBING PRE-SEASON SALEHV$79 + tax * Cannot be combined with any other promotion. Restrictions may apply. Expires June 30, 2019. atlascare.ca • Air Conditioner Tune Up • Furnace Services • Plumbing Services • Drain Clearing •Water Heater Tune-Up Choose from any or all of these services*: Call 289-205-3443 A Milton couple who lost their 17-year-old son to a fentanyl overdose is speaking out in the hope their story will save others. Graham and Lori Nor- wood say their son, Jaxen, lost consciousness after taking the notorious drug in a vacant building in Oak- ville on Saturday, May 4. He would never wake up. The Milton youth, who attended Gary Allan High School on Ontario Street, is being remembered by his parents as an artist who loved to paint and draw. They said he was a fan of the outdoors, the family cottage, and a number of sports, including snow- boarding, skateboarding, wakeboarding and long- boarding. Lori said Jaxen was close with his family and would work with his father in the family tent and aw- ning business during the summers. She said he was diligent about attending school, but was sometimes frustrated in his academic efforts by a learning disability. Lori bursts into tears as she talks about Jaxen, something she says hap- pens about 100 times a day. "He had a big heart," she said. "A lot of his friends said they are who they are be- cause of him. That's really nice." Graham said Jaxen's life took a turn about two years ago. An acquaintance of Jax- en's had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which concerned Jaxen as he recognized some of that individual's symptoms in himself. The Milton teen was eventually diagnosed with depression and anxiety, for which he began taking me- dication. Graham and Lori said their son also began self- medicating with marijua- na. Jaxen began withdraw- ing from his friends and started taking stronger street drugs in the days leading up to his death. "He was behaving strangely and saying how good he feels and so we asked him and he told us he had tried Xanax," said Gra- ham. "We asked if he'd gotten it from the street and he said he had. We told him that was dangerous." Lori said they warned Jaxen that anything from the street could be laced with fentanyl. They pointed out that at this point he was regularly seeing a psychiatrist so he could have access to pre- scribed medications that could help him. Graham said the warn- ing didn't seem to have an impact. On the evening of Fri- day, May 3 Jaxen went to a friend's house, but had not returned by the following morning. At around noon, when Jaxen hadn't responded to their phone calls, Graham and Lori went to his friend's home, but found no one was there. The couple now know their son left his friend's home in Milton at around 1 a.m., and travelled via Lyft to another friend's resi- dence in Oakville. By this time Graham and Lori had contacted Halton police, who began trying to find Jaxen by pinging his phone. In the meantime, the pair connected with Jax- en's Oakville friend, who told them he and Jaxen had gone to a vacant home on Marine Drive during the early morning hours to hang out. The friends had later parted ways. "The boy's father went to the house and he located Jaxen unresponsive and phoned 911," said Lori. "They tried to revive FAMILY SPEAKS AFTER FENTANYL COSTS SON HIS LIFE DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com NEWS See - page 3 OverdOses in haltOn regiOn Torstar graphic Over the last 12 months, Halton Region Paramedic Services has responded to the following amounts of suspected overdoses: 51 68 45 19 halton hills Milton OakvilleBurlington "He had a big heart. A lot of his friends said they are who they are because of him. That's really nice." -Lori Norwood, Jaxen's mother