A college freshman from New York died after taking what she thought was Percocet — but ended up being fentanyl.
Videos by Suggest
Paige Gibbons was attending Hobart and William Smith Colleges with the goal of becoming a doctor. She and a friend took what they believed to be a Percocet pill in November 2022.
Paige’s father, David Gibbons, spoke with New York’s Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS) about the incident.
“She was at a friend’s house, the parents were home, she and her friend were going to take a Percocet, which she thought was a Percocet,” David said. “Unbeknownst to them, it was not a Percocet — it was 100% fentanyl.”
When the cops came to the Gibbobs’s door to alert them of her death, Paige’s mother, Kate, let out “the loudest yell [David] had ever heard.”
“I thought actually it was an intruder or something, ’cause why was she screaming?” David recalled. “From that minute on … our lives changed forever.”
College Freshman Dies After Accidentally Taking Fentanyl
According to her father and several of her friends, Paige was not a regular drug user. In fact, she had simply gone to her friend’s house over Thanksgiving break, agreeing to take what she thought was a Percocet.
“She trusted, maybe, her friend or her friend trusted somebody that they knew,” said Paige’s mother, Kate. “We just thought of her as a little naive in that respect. Unfortunately, it cost her her life.”
Two girls took the pills, while a third did not. Paige died from the fentanyl, and the other girl almost did, too. All the while, the third sober friend had to watch the tragedies before her eyes.
“She’s here, but now she’s witnessed probably one of the worst things a teenager could ever witness in their lives,” David said of Paige’s friend. “Seeing one friend die and one almost die.”
“One mistake was obviously Paige’s worst mistake in her whole life,” Paige’s father continued. “We don’t want her to be judged for the worst mistake she made.”
Paige graduated from Our Lady of Mercy High School in Rochester. She went to college intending to become a doctor.
It’s been 18 months since Paige’s death, but the tragedy lives on. Her family hopes her story will save others from making the same fatal mistake. Unfortunately, all it took was one pill.