North Bay 13-Year-Old Turns Brother's Overdose Into Life-Saving Mission

PETALUMA, CA — Mariah George was just 4 years old when her brother died from a deadly combination of fentanyl and Xanax.

Today, she is 13 years old, wears braces, attends Kenilworth Junior High in Petaluma, and spends weekends teaching strangers how to use Narcan.

Like most teens, Mariah has polished her eyebrow lift and sigh but also an increasingly practiced ability to get her point across. Earlier this year, she stood with other advocates before Sebastopol City Council members and urged them to approve a public Narcan dispenser.

Councilmembers worried the overdose-reversal medication could encourage drug use or be misused by children.

Mariah, then 12, disagreed. Speaking largely from memory and personal experience, she told officials she had lost her brother to an overdose and argued that Narcan saves lives. The dispenser was ultimately approved.

The years between loss

The debate mirrored similar conversations unfolding in communities across California as local governments grapple with how to respond to rise in overdose deaths.

When Mariah's 16-year-old brother, Brayden George, died nearly a decade ago, fentanyl was already spreading through California's illicit drug supply.

His was the third narcotic-related overdose reported to police in just days.

In just six months, there had been 19 other narcotic-related overdose calls, of which three were fatal.

A majority of these incidents were heroin-overdose related.

Petaluma police were also seeing an increase in Fentanyl-related medical emergencies, according to Lt. Tim Lyons at the time.

But Brayden's death also rattled police and prosecutors because he was so young and because of the way he died.

His birth mother, Danielle Faletto, eventually pleaded guilty to felony child endangerment and was sentenced to 19 years and four months in state prison.

Faletto went with her son to a park to get drugs and admitted later that she knew the Xanax her son took while he was with her was laced with Fentanyl.

For Mariah, however, the story is not about the criminal case. It is about preventing another family from experiencing the same loss.

Since then, the synthetic opioid has become the leading driver of overdose deaths nationwide.

Fentanyl is up to 50 times more potent than heroin and is now commonly found in counterfeit pills and other street drugs, often without the user's knowledge. Public-health officials say even tiny amounts can be fatal.

The years between those two moments tell a story much larger than one family's loss and Mariah has spent much of her childhood watching adults search for answers. Now she is becoming part of that effort herself.

The rise of fentanyl has unfolded despite decades of anti-drug efforts and spending that researchers estimate has exceeded $1 trillion since President Richard Nixon launched the contemporary "War on Drugs" in 1971.

A lot of tears

Last fall, Mariah addressed participants at the Walk for Lives event in San Francisco, sharing the perspective of a younger sibling left behind after an overdose death.

"There were a lot of tears when she was done speaking," her mother, Valerie George, recalled. Afterward, DEA Special Agent Akila Johnson approached the family and praised Mariah's remarks.

The perspective she brings is one few adults can offer.

"I think because a lot of times, if there's someone older that's talking to them, they're not going to take it as seriously compared to somebody who's kind of younger," Mariah said.

That ability to connect with young people has opened doors few middle-school students ever experience.

This summer, Mariah will travel to Orlando, FL. to attend the DEA's Fentanyl Free America Summit, a three-day conference focused on drug awareness, overdose prevention and education.

There, she will learn alongside DEA agents, FBI officials, sheriffs, police officers, educators, prevention specialists and public-health advocates from across the country — many several times her age.

At the summit, she will be recognized alongside advocates from across the country. Her family is now raising funds to help cover travel expenses.

The conference focuses on emerging drug threats, social-media drug sales, overdose prevention, community outreach, and strategies for educating young people about increasingly dangerous substances.

Looking forward

She hopes to use what she learns to bring more education and awareness back to local schools, tribal communities, and families throughout Sonoma County.

Mariah is a member of the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians of the Stewarts Point Rancheria. Her mother, Valerie George, is from the Manchester-Point Arena Band of Pomo Indians, and the family works with Native health organizations and community groups addressing addiction, overdose prevention, and mental-health challenges throughout Sonoma County.

Her advocacy grew from volunteer work with Micah's Hugs, a Sebastopol-based nonprofit founded by Micah and Michelle Sawyer after the loss of their son, Micah Jr., in 2019 from a fentanyl-related overdose.

Micah was a standout athlete, football captain, wrestler, and Sonoma State University graduate whose battle with addiction ended in tragedy, according to the organization and previous reporting.

Today, Micah's Hugs distributes Narcan, teaches overdose response, provides fentanyl-awareness education, and supports families affected by addiction throughout Sonoma County.

Mariah first encountered the organization at the Petaluma Fair. Later, she volunteered alongside the Johnsons at events such as the Cotati Accordion Festival, teaching people how to use Narcan and fentanyl test strips.

Over time, she said, the work helped her find a way to carry her grief. "If I save one person's life, then I know I'm doing my job," she said.

During a recent interview at the Santa Rosa Indian Health Center, two people walked up to a nearby Narcan dispenser and took overdose-reversal kits while the conversation was underway. The moment served as a reminder that the need remains immediate, especially with the rise of Xylazine, or “tranq."

Mariah has also learned that Narcan is not a cure-all. Through her volunteer work, she has become familiar with xylazine, a powerful veterinary tranquilizer increasingly found in illicit drugs. Xylazine is frequently added without users' knowing to other drugs, most frequently fentanyl.

Public-health officials warn that overdose reversal medications like Narcan do not reverse the effects of xylazine, creating new challenges for first responders and treatment providers.

These are the kinds of issues Mariah already knows more about than most of her classmates. In Orlando, she will spend three days learning about emerging drug threats, overdose prevention, community outreach and youth education alongside law enforcement, public-health officials and advocates from across the country.

But there is one part of the trip that sounds a little more typical for a 13-year-old. The Fentanyl Free America Summit is being held near Disney World, and Mariah is hoping she'll get a chance to visit the theme park while she's there.

For Mariah, though, the conference is ultimately about the work she has already begun doing in Sonoma County. "I'm just doing this to save as many lives as I can," she said. "So other people don't have to visit their siblings or their loved ones at the cemetery."

Related: Opioid Addiction Tragedy Drives Sebastopol Couple To Help Others Through 'Micah's Hugs'

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