Dr. Laura Berman and her husband, Samuel Chapman, shared new details about their 16-year-old son’s tragic overdose on Sunday.
“He ordered a cheeseburger for his father,” said relationship therapist Kate Snow of NBC News, recalling her son’s final moments before his death. “An hour later, I went into his room because we were talking about a summer internship he wanted to do, and he was on the floor, gone.”
According to Berman, Samuel died of Xanax with fentanyl that he bought on Snapchat. She said her son couldn’t have known it was mixed with the synthetic opioid, which is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. The couple also said that their son was feeling isolated during the pandemic and wanted to try the prescription drugs when he found out he could buy them on the social platform.
“Each different drug had a different color, the way a child would love to see it,” said Chapman.
The host of the “Language of Love” podcast and Chapman spoke about the death of his son in an attempt to alert people to the dangers of social media and to encourage parents to monitor their children’s activity.
“If it helps a child, it’s worth it,” explained Berman.
Snapchat said it will work with the police to investigate Samuel’s case and reported illegal activities on its platform.
“We are committed to working with law enforcement in this case and in all cases where Snapchat is used for illegal purposes,” a Snapchat spokesman told Page Six in a statement on Monday.
“We have zero tolerance for using Snapchat to buy or sell illegal drugs,” the statement continued, noting that using Snapchat for “illegal purposes” runs counter to the company’s community guidelines.
Berman announced the death of his son on Monday in a touching post on Instagram.
“My heart is completely broken and I’m not sure how to keep breathing,” she wrote.