AN OPIOID CRISIS

Nikki Worman and her oldest daughter Ashlee are on a crusade to prevent something that tragically took another family member’s life last year.

Less than three months after graduating from high school, Maren Worman died of an accidental drug overdose on Aug. 1 in her Owatonna home.

Ashlee Worman found her younger sister deceased in bed after their mother called home looking for Maren because she had missed a service appointment for her vehicle. “I noticed she wasn’t breathing, and I called 911,” said Ashlee. “There was foam coming out of her mouth and nose, and I instantly knew it was because of drugs.”

While the family had suspicions of what happened, it wasn’t confirmed until the autopsy came back about a month later. “She bought a pill from someone thinking it was Percocet, and it was laced with Fentanyl,” said Nikki Worman.

Police investigated Maren’s death hoping to track down who was responsible for providing her with the lethal dose. However, Maren had bought pills from two different people, and police were unable to determine which pill caused her death, Nikki said.

One of the suspects in the case denied selling anything to Marin, according to Nikki. But he was arrested a few months later in another state with drugs, she said.

“I basically blame him for Maren’s death,” Nikki said.

She calls no one being arrested as “extremely frustrating.” Drug investigators have told the family that convicting anyone in these types of cases is often very difficult at best.

Maren had just moved back home nine days prior to her death after living with a boyfriend in Albert Lea. Nikki speculates that Maren was depressed over the breakup and relapsed into drugs.

While she acknowledges talking about losing a child to a drug overdose is uncomfortable, it’s not stopping Nikki from doing so. “I don’t want people to think about my daughter as a druggie,” she said. “You have to talk about it and get everything out in the open.”

Added Ashlee, “We don’t want people to think about Maren as the girl who died of drugs.”

The Wormans want to spread the message that “this can happen to any household.” They classify themselves as a middle-class family with both parents working and children who had never been in trouble with the law. Nikki is employed at Federated Insurance while her husband, Jeremy, works in construction in the Twin Cities.

“You always think it will never happen to your family and it did,” Nikki said. “There are no words to describe it. We are heartbroken, shocked and angry. It’s something no parent should have to go through.”

Nikki described Maren as being very shy, very quiet and someone who loved to read books. She loved animals and helped as a volunteer at the Freeborn County Humane Society. She worked at group homes working with disabled adults. She also enjoyed hunting and fishing with her father.

“Her hair was always a vibrant color—pink or blue,” Nikki said. “She had the biggest heart.”

Maren’s plan was to take a year off and then go to college with a goal of becoming a special education teacher.

Both Nikki and Ashlee have become involved with the Steele County Coalition for Healthy Youth, an organization currently directed by Annette Duncan, who is also president of the United Way of Steele County. The Wormans reached out to Duncan last November wondering if they could assist in giving out drug kits.

In March, the coalition held its first training session in Owatonna where volunteers gave out Overdose Response Naloxone kits as well as Fentanyl test strips. Two more sessions are planned next month in Medford and Blooming Prairie. Others will happen later this year.

Duncan said her goal for the coalition is to have at least 150 people trained by the end of the year. She said they are also open to training employees at area businesses. Everyone who goes through the training will be given a kit as well as a test strip.

Nikki calls her involvement with the coalition as being therapeutic. “It’s nice to tell our story and spread the word,” she said. “I can’t stop anyone from taking drugs, but I’ll do my best to be there and be prepared.”

She refers to the fentanyl crisis sweeping across the country as being “scary,” and one that people need to pay close attention. “Opioid use is a lot more prevalent than we know,” Nikki said. “It’s not safe to buy opioids off the streets where you don’t know where they came from.”

Nikki also hopes to share her story with teenagers in area schools.

“I want people to know this is an issue in our community,” she said. “I was oblivious to this until it happened to our family. I was pretty naïve.”

Looking back, Nikki knows she missed some cues. Some of them included: asking for money, being isolated, things mysteriously disappearing, possessive of cell phone and not being open with emotions.

“There were signs. I just didn't know it was a symptom of drug use,” Nikki acknowledges. “She was asking everyone for money.”

While she knows nothing will bring her daughter back, Nikki hopes some good will come out of their involvement with the coalition.

“We are hoping to save a life,” she said.

 ___________________________________________________________________

Upcoming Naloxone Kit Distributions and Training

• June 7 at 5:30 p.m.- Medford Fire Hall

• June 21 at 6:15 p.m.- Blooming Prairie Chamber at Brookside Campgrounds

• To be determined- Ellendale and more in Owatonna