Until four years ago, Julie Hofmans never imagined she would spend her life touring public schools and spreading the message to youth about drug overdoses and poisonings.
Because One Pill Can Kill.
In April 2020, Hofmans’ son, Wyatt Williamson, 23, was found unconscious by his girlfriend. Medical professionals said that Williamson had taken a Xanax pill laced with fentanyl.
“It was pretty clear, Wyatt was on life support,” Hofmans said of finding her son in the hospital after his girlfriend’s phone call.
Fentanyl was found in Williamson’s system, which had caused him to overdose.
“That, unfortunately, made more sense to me. Because I knew that he would not try to overdose. I knew that he was not unhappy. It was an accident.”
Doctors told Hofmans that her son died instantly.
“You don’t have to be a drug addict,” Hofmans said of drug overdoses and poisonings.
Hofmans said her son was smart, but he took a chance and took a pill.
“He didn’t know he was taking a chance. He was just taking a pill. He’d taken them before, but this one had fentanyl. And this one took his life.”
Now, Hofmans travels to schools and spreads the message of the dangers of taking one pill. She spoke at Staunton High School yesterday afternoon to an auditorium full of students captivated by Wyatt’s Story.
The youngest of three children, Williamson scored 104 on the math exam. After two years at the University of Louisville, he was going to pursue a career in anesthesiology, but he chose to drop out and pursue a career as a model.
That night, he and his girlfriend had glasses of wine and both took Xanax pills.
Hofmans used the analogy of chocolate chips in cookies. Some cookies have more chocolate chips than others. Some pills have more fentanyl than others and you cannot tell by looking at them.
“It’s not a perfect recipe,” Hofmans said.
Two grams of fentanyl, a synthetic chemical, can be lethal for one human.
“If you think I’m trying to scare you, you would be correct. I am,” Hofmans said.
She told Staunton High’s students that someone loves them just as she loves her son, Wyatt, and their loved ones do not want them to die just as she did not want Wyatt to die.
Hofmans visits a rock that memorializes her son, who, per his wishes, was cremated. She said she would much prefer to visit Wyatt instead of a rock and talk with her son again.
She encouraged Staunton High students to speak to someone if they need help and to let authority figures know if their friends are abusing drugs.
Hofmans said she copes with the loss of her son by sharing his story and tragic death.
“This makes me feel like Wyatt is still here,” Hofmans said of speaking to youth.
Hofmans hopes her advocacy scares teens and youth enough so that they do not try drugs and do not take pills from anyone.
Because One Pill Can Kill.
“I’m a broken mom who will never be the same because of a choice my son made,” Hofmans said.
A registered organ donor, Williamson’s organs saved hundreds of lives.
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Rebecca Barnabi
