Our Family’s Desperate Plea to End the Fentanyl Epidemic
By Lyudmyla Tarelkine (Sasha's mother), Alexandre Tarelkine (Sasha's father) and Daria Tarelkine (Sasha's sister).
Editor’s Note: The city seems so much smaller when tragedy hits a family in your community; and especially when it’s a child known to your children and their friends. And so it was beyond heartbreaking to hear of the shocking passing of 14-year-old Sasha Tarelkine in December. A freshman at Brooklyn Tech, Sasha was full of life, with so many friends and limitless potential. What could have happened, we thought? It didn’t make any sense. And it still doesn’t. But we are thankful for the bravery of Sasha’s family because the truth is unimaginable… Sasha was a victim of fentanyl poisoning. A moment’s decision has now resulted in a lifetime of pain for those who love Sasha. And her family wants to make sure that no one experiences the same horror, so they are telling their story and asking us all to join the fight.
Sasha’s Story
Our daughter Sasha celebrated her 14th birthday on November 7, 2023. Everyone was shocked when her devastated family announced her death one month and one day later, and the same question was in everyone's mind: How did this young, beautiful, healthy child die?
We, her family, are ready to speak about what happened. We hope that our honesty will help save lives. But it is important for us to let you know that...
Sasha was intelligent: she had just started her first year in one of the best high schools in the country.
Sasha was kind. She deeply cared about animals and people, especially those mistreated, abused, or who didn't have a home. She even wrote a letter to the White House about the homelessness issue and received a response from the Biden Administration. Sasha proudly displayed her acknowledgment letter on her desk.
Sasha was good at sports. In elementary school, she was involved in gymnastics and track and field, and all coaches saw her potential when she played basketball and volleyball in middle school. She was a strong swimmer and diver; by her 11th birthday, she had already received a PADI Open Water certificate.
Sasha was sweet-natured - her friends loved her. She was attractive, likable, and an all-around fantastic individual. She was like a ray of sunshine to many people because of her caring, easy-going personality and contagious smile.
Her sudden death completely crushed her community and our family. Her father, mother, and older sister are left with broken hearts. Thankfully, we have beautiful memories and thousands of amazing photos showing our love. We did our best to cherish our girl's sweet spirit and nurture her body and mind. Every summer, our family traveled and went on unforgettable adventures worldwide. We watched movies and listened to music together. Inspired by her dad's musical taste, she introduced many of her peers to the Beatles and other classic rock musicians and bands.
Sasha was full of energy and light. However, sometime after she turned 13, we started to notice what we thought were normal adolescent hormones and individual tendencies: awkwardness, moodiness, and apathy.
We thought it was just a stage of development, but now we know it was something else entirely.
Around February 2023, she started hanging out with a new group of peers. We knew their names, Sasha showed their photos and shared some stories, and they seemed safe enough; we trusted our daughter's judgment of people - she never gave a reason not to. They became closer, she started seeing these people more often…and something went awry. Unbeknownst to us, our daughter was dragged into experimenting with substances. Now, we know that she started experimenting with vapes, alcohol, and marijuana, but we will never find out why she fell under the spell and how her so-called friends talked her into taking the last step toward the abyss. Not long before her death, a "friend" gave her morphine, and she got hooked right away. Her new adventure lasted for about a week until she received a dose laced with fentanyl. She had zero tolerance for the strength of this deadly substance, which is 50-100 times stronger than heroin. She didn't want to die. She didn't know she would.
The worst thing is to admit that no one in the family noticed what she was up to all this time. We had zero reasons to be suspicious. Sasha hid it well: she had good grades, completed homework, and came home on time. She was a hard worker and, on Saturdays, spent almost all day at City College taking a class for extra credit.
We were only concerned about her losing interest in schoolwork and extracurriculars, but we attributed it to a transition period from middle to high school. The transition wasn't easy, so we decided to loosen the reins and be easier on her. When she asked permission to hang out with friends after school or on the weekends, we let her. We thought socializing was better than being on her phone. We weren't happy about her social media use, but we gave up fighting about it because she claimed she needed it to stay "in the loop".
Sasha was a normal teenager, moody, but still sweet and loving, so when her mom found her dead on the couch in the living room, the last thing she was thinking of was drugs.
We, her family, still cannot believe she is not here with us. We wish someone had alerted us about her dangerous activities, but of those who knew what she was doing, no one came forward.
We cry every day and still ask ourselves, "WHY?!". It didn't occur to us that a 14-year-old child from a well-rounded family could have been lured into this trap. We had NO IDEA that drug use is rampant in schools EVERYWHERE in NYC.
Now, after talking to many teenagers, it seems to us that an average child has already been exposed to or tried marijuana or alcohol starting as early as the beginning of middle school. We were told that for kids in high school, it is easy to find dealers who sell opioids. Dealers hang out around schools; they advertise substances on social media and distribute flyers. Drug dealers can also be our children's peers, classmates, and friends. They intend to put more people on drugs and make profits. Teenagers are teenagers; they are rebellious and curious. They play with fire. They want to be "cool". Social media, such as TikTok, provides plenty of cool role models, and many send the wrong messages to underage audiences. Teenagers share videos where drinking, vaping, smoking, and taking pills are normalized. We partially blame TikTok for losing our daughter; we believe that her social media use played a role in her downfall.
However, TikTok didn't kill Sasha. Fentanyl did. Unfortunately, we have never paid attention, but it's been in the news for a while now: this synthetic drug kills at an alarming rate; more victims are now in their early teens. We are outraged that schools leave parents in the dark and do not do more to address the issue of substance use among teenagers, and politicians do not make the Fentanyl crisis their top agenda. We are horrified to hear from the police that they are aware of the drug distribution around schools but cannot do much because of budget cuts.
Sasha did not deserve to die like this. She was a 14-year-old who fell into a rabbit hole misguided by the wrong people and TikTok influence. She made a mistake, but she could have had a second chance if not for Fentanyl.
This is an EPIDEMIC. The world united when it was COVID; the time has come to come together and fight against Fentanyl.
We aim to raise awareness and encourage school officials and politicians to take more drastic steps to protect our children.