An 18-month-old toddler from Indiana tragically died days after taking an opioid addiction medication he found in a backpack at a thrift store, according to family and officials.
Azana Trentman fell ill on September 4th and was found unresponsive and taken to hospital. KFVS12 reported Friday.citing the Dearborn County Sheriff's Office.
The child died on Sept. 8, the department said.
Her parents, Austin Trentman and Shayna Wood, took young Azana to a thrift store in Dillsboro, where Azana began playing with the backpack while they were browsing. According to a Facebook post by his grandmother, Tawnya Wood, on September 7th..
“At some point, Azana found something in her backpack which she swallowed. Austin didn't know what it was and quickly cleaned her mouth and induced vomiting,” Wood wrote.
“He tasted the substance and it was sweet, tasting like melted candy.”
The child seemed fine afterwards, so they carried on running errands, but when they got home “their world was turned upside down,” Wood wrote.
“After days of testing, the shocking results finally came yesterday. The toxicology report revealed the substance was a fruit-flavored dissolving suboxone pill,” the grieving grandmother wrote.
Suboxone is one of the main drugs used to treat opioid addiction. According to Harvard Medical School.
She was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in stable condition, police said.
Although little Azana did not survive, Wood wrote, she will live on to help others because her parents decided to donate her organs to three donors. Subsequent Facebook posts.
“She brought immense joy and love into our lives and her memory will remain in our hearts forever,” she said.
“Azana's donations will not only save and improve the lives of the three beneficiaries, but through them, provide a means for her to earn a living.”
A GoFundMe page set up when the toddler was hospitalized surpassed its $10,000 goal and had raised more than $19,000 by Friday night.
Wood said a fundraiser for the family will be held on Sept. 14 at the couple's favorite local thrift store, but it is a different store from the one where Trentman took the pills. Another social media post.
The Dearborn County Sheriff's Office said the toddler's cause of death is still under investigation, pending autopsy results, according to KFVS12.
The thrift store could not immediately be identified, but Wood slammed the retailer for “negligence.”
“I am heartbroken that Azana is suffering because of someone's carelessness in leaving such a dangerous item in a donated backpack,” she wrote in a Sept. 7 post.
“It's also problematic that thrift stores don't thoroughly inspect donated items before selling them.”
