A mother claims her ‘straight-A’ schoolboy suffered brain damage after bullies forced him to smoke a vapor – which turned out to be laced with deadly fentanyl.
Lynda Amos says son Zach Corona, both of Dalton, Georgia, will “never be the same” as she claims the vape, which was hidden in his underwear, caused a stroke from being laced with the drug, that’s until fifty times stronger than heroin.
The 45-year-old mother of five was shocked to discover her 13-year-old boy passed out on their lounge chair at 6pm on January 1 after complaining of chest pains.
Zach was found unconscious by 12-year-old sister Katie Amos, who at first thought her brother was “playing” until she tried to tickle him and he became unresponsive.
Lynda quickly called an ambulance and Zach reached Children’s Hospital in Erlanger, Tennessee, USA half an hour later, where he flatlined minutes after arriving.
A mother claims her ‘straight-A’ schoolboy suffered brain damage after bullies forced him to smoke a vapor – which turned out to be laced with deadly fentanyl
Lynda quickly called an ambulance and Zach reached Children’s Hospital in Erlanger, Tennessee, USA half an hour later – where he flatlined minutes after arriving
Doctors confirmed that Zach had suffered a stroke and after being resuscitated, he was placed on life support.
Lynda had “no idea” why her son had continued to fight for his life – until doctors cut his clothes off and found a vape pen laced with lethal opioid fentanyl, along with marijuana.
The 45-year-old mother of five was shocked to discover her 13-year-old son passed out in their living room armchair at 6pm on January 1 after complaining of chest pains.
After waking up from the coma more than two weeks later, the 13-year-old claimed he got the vape from a group of kids, who made him smoke it in front of him.
Zach says the group of eight guys and one girl said they’d “beat him up” if he didn’t hide the laced vape pen from them.
Zach believed the bullies were “his friends” – despite the fact that they had been “pushing him in the face” and calling names for months.
Stay-at-home mom Lynda claims she was “terrified” for her son’s life – and that the once straight A student will “never be the same” due to damage to the right side of his brain.
Lynda said, “Zach sometimes cheats on his sister and pretends to be asleep, but when she bends over to tickle him, he jumps up and scares her.
She thought he was playing. She started to tickle him and there was no response.
I also thought he was joking. [Then] when i picked up his arm he just fell down. Then I knew something was wrong.
“The paramedics asked if he had swallowed anything and I said no, there is nothing in the house for him to swallow. I had no idea what was going on.
“It was terrifying. I prayed to God to let my son live, to bring him back.
“He didn’t respond to anything, and then they told me they’d lose him if I didn’t sign a paper to put him on ECMO.
Zach was found unconscious by 12-year-old sister Katie Amos, who at first thought her brother was “playing” until she tried to tickle him and he became unresponsive
“I said do whatever you can to bring him back. Don’t let him die.
Then he was in a coma for two and a half weeks. They didn’t think he would ever get out.
“I didn’t know he had the vapor because he hid it in his underwear. The boys said they would beat him up so he took it out of fear.
After waking up from his coma, Zach was taken to children’s health care in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, where he received speech, physical, and occupational therapy.
The traumatized teen is currently confined to a wheelchair due to balance problems
‘I felt hatred. I was angry about who could have done this to him.
“He told me he is confused about why the kids did this to him because he said they were his friends.
“They had punched him in the face and called names.
“He is now seeing a psychiatrist and a psychologist.
The psychiatrist even told him, “you know they were never your friends to begin with. Your friends would never do anything to try to hurt you and kill you”.
‘[Doctors] told me he would never be the same boy he was. He was a real A student.’
After waking up from his coma, Zach was taken to children’s health care in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, where he received speech, physical, and occupational therapy.
Zach stayed at Children’s Healthcare in Atlanta until February 21 and is now undergoing outpatient treatment
As a result of the damage to the right side of his brain, Zach has been having seizures and has lost both the sight in his right eye and the function of his left arm.
Zach stayed at Children’s Healthcare in Atlanta until February 21 and is now undergoing outpatient treatment.
As a result of the damage to the right side of his brain, Zach has been having seizures and has lost both the sight in his right eye and the function of his left arm.
The traumatized teen currently uses a wheelchair due to balance issues and had to relearn how to perform basic tasks such as counting and speaking.
While Lynda hopes her son’s condition will improve, doctors have suggested Zach is unlikely to regain full use of his left arm.
The mother is now trying to raise money to cover medical bills, and is advocating for parents to be more proactive when it comes to bullying, claiming her son’s survival was “a miracle.”
Lynda said, “It was a miracle my son came back. He was dead. My son died.
“Due to the severity of the stroke, it damaged the right side of his brain, and it is permanently damaged. It will never come back.
‘He has to be in a wheelchair because he can’t walk very well. It made him blind in his right eye. They ruined my son for life.
“These kids are out there, running around, living their lives the way they want.
“There’s nothing wrong with my son fighting for his life. It is not right.
While Lynda hopes her son’s condition will improve, doctors have suggested that Zach is unlikely to be able to fully use his left arm.
Stay-at-home mom Lynda claims she was “terrified” for her son’s life
“I hope things will get better in the future, but doctors say they don’t think he will regain movement in his left arm.
“He’s still angry about it and still confused.
“These parents need to be careful and listen to their children. If they say they are being bullied, the parents should do something about it.
The mother is now trying to raise money to cover medical bills and is advocating for parents to be more proactive when it comes to bullying
“There’s no telling how many other people have done that to those kids — and if they hurt another kid, they might not come back like my son.”