CHARLOTTE — There has been a spike in overdose deaths across the country during the pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report 110,000 people died of an overdose from March 2021 to March 2022.
Behind those numbers are families shattered and lives changed forever. The mother of a Charlotte native and chef who overdosed last year is now sharing his story to educate others about the disease of addiction.
Lori Hawes said she performed CPR on her 32-year-old son Cody Mogensen when he overdosed in May 2021.
“I was up doing lesson plans, like I do on Sunday. He was in the bathroom for awhile,” Hawes said. “When the door was locked, knowing what I know, I knew. I called 911.”
She had tried to mend the pain of that moment, placing a table in the place where paramedics worked to save her son and covered it with mementos and memories, including his skillful photography, pictures of his mountain bike and his dog.
Going back to the beginning
“Cody grew up in a normal, middle-class family, went to college, went on family vacations, had friends,” Hawes said.
To understand how that normal life ended with an overdose, people have to understand what happened 14 years before. During Cody’s senior year of high school, he was delivering pizzas when he was jumped and attacked with a hammer.
“These surgeons rebuilt the side of his skull,” his mother said.
Cody was prescribed Oxycodone that then led to a 14-year opioid addiction, with Cody later turning to heroin for the same high.
“I couldn’t understand why Cody made these choices over and over again and everybody says it’s a choice. Well, I learned, it is not a choice,” Hawes told Channel 9′s Genevieve Curtis.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Cody was clean and working as a chef. But when he lost his job, he relapsed.
Cody wasn’t alone. Data from the CDC shows that during the pandemic, overdose deaths rose by more than 60%.
“He said ‘Mom, no one wants to be an addict.’ He was so tired of living that life, the struggle, and he tried so hard to get out of it,” Hawes said.
His mom said he tried until the very end. He even had a job interview lined up in May 2021, when he bought a deadly dose of heroin.
The impact of fentanyl
After the autopsy, Hawes learned the heroin her son bought was laced with fentanyl.
“It’s affecting and killing so many young people,” Hawes said.
In 2020, more than 70% of overdose deaths in North Carolina involved fentanyl.
“I think when he bought that heroin, I think that he thought it was just heroin and had no idea,” his mother told Curtis.
Hawes has tried to honor Cody’s life by educating others about the disease of addiction and the fentanyl crisis. But missing her son never gets easier.
“His laugh, his hugs, his smile, he was always just really, really happy,” she said. “And I miss that, a lot.”
‘Cody gave that gift’
Hawes license plate is a daily reminder of her son’s legacy. Cody donated his lungs, heart and liver. A few months ago, Hawes got to meet her son’s lung recipient.
“I got to listen to Cody’s lungs. It was emotional but it was so amazing,” she said.
Hawes said she has found some peace in knowing that for so long Cody tried to save himself, but in the end, his life saved others.
“It is a gift and Cody gave that gift. He’s a hero to four people,” she said.
It might be surprising that those who have struggled with addiction can be organ donors.
LifeShare Carolinas explained to Curtis that much of the damage caused by a drug overdose is actually to the brain. And while other organs may be impacted, that damage can often be corrected. Specific tests are also done to determine organ function.
Curtis learned there’s also been an increase in victims who have died from opioid use becoming organ donors. In 2019, about 9% of total organ donors had died from opioid use in the Carolinas. And in three years to just over halfway through 2022, that has more than doubled at 24% of organ donors.
For more information about organ donation, click here.
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(WATCH BELOW: Authorities in Iredell County being proactive amid uptick in fentanyl cases)
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