[00:00:00] Angela Kennecke: Cooper Noriega seemed to be living the dream. At just 19 years old, the social media influencer had amassed millions of followers on TikTok, along with hundreds of thousands more on social platforms. Not stopping there, he ventured into modeling and had ambitious plans to launch a clothing line focusing on mental health awareness.

[00:00:29] Harold Noriega: In the world of modeling and advertising and, brand representing the world was shifting towards that social media model versus, you know, the $20 million a year supermodels, walking ramp, et cetera. Although they still have those, was a whole new, opening up for young kids. And so he got involved with that and, he resonated with others and he just, you know, skyrocketed to having a lot of success.

[00:00:58] Angela Kennecke: But under the surface of his stardom, Cooper faced his own battles with mental health and substance abuse. In fact, just days before his death, the star launched a safe space for his fans to openly discuss mental health.

[00:01:16] Harold Noriega:  He was struggling with what every kid probably goes through when they grow up.

Trying to figure out who they are and their self identity as they're maturing and going through puberty. Like where do I fit in, know, with my friends, know? And then there's what I'm supposed to fit into, like we're supposed to go to school. We're gonna go to college and you know, you gotta go to U S C 'cause that's what everybody does around, where he grew up. Sometimes fitting in that box is challenging for kids. And I see other kids now in my neighborhood where they don't fit into that box and they struggle and they internalize it. And what they all want to do is they want to have somebody to talk to about it. and they don't know how to ask for that because mental health is regarded as a stigma.

[00:02:04] Angela Kennecke: Cooper was working to end that stigma before he tragically died. 

In this episode, you'll discover how his parents are carrying forward that important mission in Cooper's name. His dad also shares insights. into what may have contributed to their son's challenges and has a heartfelt message for other parents.

I'm Angela Kennecke. You're listening to Grieving Out Loud. Our hope is that this conversation not only enlightens you, but also provides valuable insights into one of the most pressing issues affecting today's youth. Fentanyl.

 (MUSIC UP) 

[00:02:51] Angela Kennecke: Harold, welcome to Grieving Out Loud. I am so very sorry for the loss of your 19 year old son Cooper.

[00:02:59] Harold Noriega: Thank you. Thank you for having me, and thank you for reaching out. it doesn't get any easier, but doing things like this is, a step in the right direction to helping others. So I'm always welcome to, collaborate.

[00:03:12] Angela Kennecke: Oh, great. Our audience has heard me say this over and over again, but helping others has really helped me. Cope with my grief and the loss of my 21 year old daughter, and I don't know anything that's helped more than that. So I'm glad you're doing what you're doing. I know you just lost Cooper in 2022, correct?

[00:03:30] Harold Noriega: Yeah, correct. June 9th, 2022.

[00:03:33] Angela Kennecke: right. So that first year and the second year, it's really tough. You know, I've talked to some dads on this program. It seems like I overwhelmingly talked to moms, but my last couple of guests have been dads, which is really cool. And I wanted just to talk to you first. Tell me a little bit about Cooper. He was really a TikTok social media sensation, wasn't he?

[00:03:56] Harold Noriega: You know, Cooper was a senior in high school and he had met his best friend up at a party in Los Angeles, a friend who had been living up there. They invited him a up, they went to a party, met this, kid named Jayden Hostler, who is an up and coming, artist singer. Songwriter. And then, coop just started getting in the world of social media on his own and seemed to resonate with a lot of kids, a lot of his contemporaries. And then all of a sudden, you know, we were, we were very new to social media from that standpoint. what I saw happen was in the world of modeling and advertising and, brand representing the world was shifting towards that social media model versus, you know, the $20 million a year supermodels, walking ramp, et cetera. Although they still have those, was a whole new, opening up for young kids. And so he got involved with that and, he resonated with others and he just, you know, skyrocketed to having a lot of success.

[00:05:03] Angela Kennecke: He had millions of followers. Right? 

[00:05:04] Harold Noriega: Yeah. Literally millions of followers around the world. Primarily TikTok, Instagram and then and YouTube.

[00:05:13] Angela Kennecke: And what kind of modeling did he do?

[00:05:15] Harold Noriega: He did, um, brand modeling, things of like clothing, sunglasses, apparel and when Cooper passed, he was actually being, considered for a couple of, Netflix and television series as a, as an actor. And so, uh, unfortunately I had to respond back to those, after he passed and let him know that we appreciated that you wanted our boy in these platforms, but he's not gonna be around. So, you know, he had a very, very, strong career. it was moving forward rapidly and it was sad that he didn't get to continue with it.

[00:05:48] Angela Kennecke: I wanna get into the details of what happened in just a minute, but what you just said reminds me of something that I tell audiences so often when I speak to them. I have a, poster with lots of faces on it of young people who've died from Fentanyl, as you know. It's the number one cause of death of young people.

And I always say, look at the lost potential. I mean, look at the books that could have been written, the music, the art that could have been created. And the same is true for every young person who loses their life in this way. And it certainly was true for Cooper, who knows where his career would've taken him.

[00:06:24] Harold Noriega: You know, I think it's true for almost everybody that passes. You know, that maybe just doesn't have that storybook life that goes on to like their eighties and nineties or hundreds and then just, you know, goes off the sunset. I just think as human beings, we have so much potential every day. I know people that have reinvented their careers multiple times up until the very end of their lives and been very successful and a lot of different ventures, and so, are things I look up to. 

And I think somebody like Cooper was constantly reinventing himself and had a very, very bright, and who knows where that career would've gone or where his life would've gone. But he had such an impact with people that we discovered after his death that it has carried on and it has continued to increase around the world. And it's just amazing. We're just blown away daily . What we see from the responses from people around the world.

[00:07:19] Angela Kennecke: but it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows with social media. Right? So Cooper had been talking about mental health and he had talked about addiction and he had something about . Being addicted at age nine, what can you tell me about that?

[00:07:33] Harold Noriega: So Cooper was here today, my conversation about that would be, let's unpack all that and talk about statement. 'cause sometimes you also have to. Taking consideration, a 19 year old may not be as mature as somebody in their forties or fifties may not have the life experiences that we have had, as, middle aged adults. But Cooper's journey with drugs began at nine when he was diagnosed as ADHD, and he was prescribed. A D H D medicine, 

[00:08:06] Angela Kennecke: sure. millions, like millions of kids. 

[00:08:08] Harold Noriega: right, and so that was the gateway that led him down this path was the prescription A D H D medicine, because it had a terrible effect on him. But have a kid who is, couldn't sit still in class. you're in a classroom in California where it might not be as ideal in other places where you have 20 to 26 students, one teacher, and they're trying to keep everybody in this box, right?

And so you have the kids that are really good and really smart, and they sit in the front of the class, they do all their work, you never hear from 'em, and they're just model students. Then you have everybody else that's kind of like here. Then you have kids that can be kind of disruptive or . On the other end that don't settle down as much.

What we've learned later on, he was extremely bright and it was very boring for him in school because it just wasn't challenging enough. The things we found out later on in high school, particularly from one um who was a lot younger, a little bit more cutting edge, that he was extremely bright with math and science and he was just bored and she would do things versus where normal teachers, I mean, say the majority of people would say, prescribe something so that kid can be in my class when I can move on. She would do things like, I'm gonna have you take this to the office for me, but I want you to go a long way around the track. And he would burn some endorphins get a little, almost a little bit of exercise he would come back and be very settled 'cause she felt your natural energy is better than giving a prescription energy.

[00:09:41] Angela Kennecke: You know, I have heard a lot of talk, Harold, about the correlation between A D H D medicine in children and later struggles with addiction or turning to other substances. are studies out there. Um, I personally have relatives that. Started on the A D H D medicine as children because they they couldn't sit still.

Right. I mean, you understand the reason for it, but yet you don't really know the long-term consequences.

[00:10:06] Harold Noriega: What happens with this scenario is we, you know, we're, we're young parents. When we say young, meaning we never had kids before. Treva and I got married later. I was 40 when we had our first child. She was 36. But there's no instruction manual, right? So we have our kids. They're growing up, you know, we have Parker, our daughter, who, didn't have this kind of concern in school.

we have Cooper going through this. And so you're just like listening to what everybody tells you. what we realized was that instead of unpacking and looking at why is this behavior, why does it existing, let's just prescribe you something so that you can settle down in class. So we're dealing with a symptom. Of something else that's going on, as opposed to why are you behaving this way? you never addressed the core issue, which is mental health, in my opinion. And then, terrible, result and effect of the A D H D medicine, we eventually said, he's gotta go off this.

Because this isn't the kid that we know and is growing up. he became very catatonic, lost a lot of weight, like a lot of weight because it's a stimulant and couldn't sleep. So he wasn't getting good sleep. He dropped significant amount of pounds. I think it affected his self-image. So this is where we started unpacking this later.

[00:11:29] Angela Kennecke: How old was he when he was off of the A D H D medication then?

[00:11:33] Harold Noriega: Now Treva would probably have a better read on that. I'm gonna guess to say maybe 12, 13.

[00:11:40] Angela Kennecke: So do you think he turned other substances at that point, or was it later or what happened between, you know, the A D H D medicine, 12 to 13, and then substances he was taking at 19.

[00:11:53] Harold Noriega: I'm gonna tell you what I think happened because this is kind of what we've discovered through. talking with Cooper, we are very close and a very open family, It's never been a situation we were estranged from our kids, we've had marital issues. It has always been, we've been very close and, um, I saw the Cooper later on when we talked about it, he was struggling with what every kid probably goes through when they grow up.

Trying to figure out who they are and their self identity as they're maturing and going through puberty. Like where do I fit in, know, with my friends, know? And then there's what I'm supposed to fit into, like we're supposed to go to school. We're gonna go to college and you know, you gotta go to U S C 'cause that's what everybody does around, where he grew up. 

Sometimes fitting in that box is challenging for kids. And I see other kids now in my neighborhood where they don't fit into that box and they struggle and they internalize it. And what they all want to do is they want to have somebody to talk to about it. and they don't know how to ask for that because mental health is regarded as a stigma. It's negative. What's wrong with you, man up? you know, you shouldn't be able to do this. You're weak, all these other things. 

Whereas if you broke your leg and you need to go to the doctor, nobody would have an issue with it. You need to go to an orthopedic, not a problem. Okay. on the mental health side, some kids are able to get through it or have less trauma or how they react to it than others.

Some kids, they've got an introduction to medication I see, do two things. They gravitate towards something that either makes them feel better about this feeling like, don't wanna feel this way, something else that makes me feel better than this. Or ultimately, and horribly they want it to go away and that ends up with a suicide. 

So, Cooper, grew up, kind of took my genetics. I'm only five six. He grew up short, got picked on a lot for being short.

I am Hispanic. Cooper's half Hispanic. He got picked on for being Mexican we live in an affluent area in Laguna Beach, in Southern California, and I grew up with racial prejudice. I was amazed that in a Catholic school, in Laguna Beach, California, he was getting picked on for being half Mexican. You know, the half breed they would call him. I was surprised that a teacher say, what is wrong with you? Why can't you sit still here in class?

What is wrong with you? You can't do that. You know, you need to get outta here. Something's wrong with you. As opposed to why, how can you, the power a teacher has over a young child saying things like that when you're in . Sixth grade, fifth, sixth grade. So you add this up and you can kind of see where other kids that have struggled with that, they kind of gravitate towards each other. And then there's where after the gateway starts leading into like weed and drinking, and it gets the best of you.

[00:14:50] Angela Kennecke: right, right. Well, I'm sorry to hear, he had those experiences, and you do think that you're insulated from that kind of thing, you know, by privilege, by money, right? By, able to go to a private school, all those things. I mean, 

[00:15:05] Harold Noriega: it's not even that. You think by the fact that like my generation, you know, I'm a boomer. I'm 67 years old and grown up. in an area where was a lot of racial prejudice there. We were in a very low income area worked my way out to get to where I am today.

And a lot of other people that are very successful, whether they've done it on their own or whether they've had a greater head start. you think with access to information today through the internet and through social platforms that have, you know, changes that we've made through the last few decades that we would kind of be beyond this stuff.

And I guess maybe I was just being a little bit too much with my head in the sand, but not a lot has changed and I don't see it changing as I've traveled around the world. I think that's why we have a lot of problems. it's sad to see that racial, prejudice and. You know, a lot of these things still exist they hurt children.

[00:15:57] Angela Kennecke: Yeah. So the bullying affected Cooper, the taking the A D h ADHD medicine or not being able to sit still and being, sort of reprimanded for that affected him. And then kids that are comfortable with taking medications can also be comfortable with taking other, I mean, we're such a pill happy society. Right? So also be comfortable with taking other things.

[00:16:17] Harold Noriega: You know, we're, socialized in our country to prescribe something and give you medicine if there's something doesn't feel right, like you're taking Advil. an ibuprofen, take Motrin, fix a cough medicine, you know, take a Xanax. If you don't like flying, get one from somebody. You'll it'll be easier to deal with the, with the anxiety on a, plane, et cetera.

learned it's the wrong approach, but that's how we're conditioned and I've chosen to have different mindset about these things because I've discovered that they're very, very dangerous. And there's a lot of side effects just from health standpoint let alone, you know, introducing children or people that are struggling with mental health that may fall down the road of being, controlled by these now where you no longer able to them yourself.

 (MUSIC UP!) 

[00:17:05] Angela Kennecke: Cooper was not only aware of his ongoing battle with mental health, but he also shared his struggles. In fact, just days before he died, Cooper announced plans to start a group on the messaging platform Discord for his millions of followers to discuss their experiences with their own mental health.

[00:17:28] Harold Noriega: think what really resonated with Cooper and why he, Accumulated all these followers and, uh, this fame and which has continued on, is he talked about his struggles and he felt open enough to talk about it and share it on the Discord channel that he created. He shared it on his TikTok, he shared it on his Instagram, and he would also respond back to. Kids that would reach out to him and direct message him and he would respond and he would talk about this stuff with them from the standpoint that it's okay not to be okay, like if we talk about this, this could be something you can do. other choices you can make. And what we've learned since then man, there's so many kids out there that just need to open up and talk and they don't know how they're afraid to, or they don't have somebody to talk to. That's why something like the Discord channel, you know, the coops advice platform still has 14 months later about a quarter million kids on it, and emoting.

 (MUSIC UP) 

[00:18:23] Angela Kennecke: Not only did Cooper start the Discord channel Coop's Advice days before he died, but he was also in the early stages of setting up a non profit. The goal? To make sure Narcan, a drug that can reverse opioid overdoses, gets into the hands of more people who could save lives using it.

 (MUSIC UP) 

[00:18:49] Harold Noriega: he reached out to a nonprofit organization called end overdose.net and end overdose. Is an, uh, online platform that will train and certify you in the use of, Naloxone, which is Narcan, and they'll give it to you for free. 

And so he wanted to create some apparel and some and t-shirts and artwork to sell and help fund them. And then he created the Discord Channel. Prior to his passing, it was like, I think on June 6th, he created it, and a few days later he was gone and he called it Coops Advice. So Coop passed away on June 9th, which was a Thursday. The following Thursday, his management team and his closest friends were at our house and they said they want to create a foundation. And so we said, okay, to perpetuate these things. That Coop started, so on the following Tuesday it was created and it's just gravitated to where Treva and I have taken the lead of it because we feel compelled we feel led by coop in certain things that resonate and we know that's what we're supposed to do.

So we are moving down these various lanes led by Coop, but he started this, not us. 

[00:20:04] Angela Kennecke: Wow. Yeah. You are truly carrying out his legacy. You truly are. So what, was going on, June 9th, 2022 is the day he died, but right before his death, he had posted something rather cryptic. Right. do you know about that? What was it?

[00:20:21] Harold Noriega: I know that he was struggling, Coop's drug of choice was Xanax and he got introduced to it when he was younger. 

[00:20:28] Angela Kennecke: was also my daughter's drug of choice for quite a while, and that's actually what I thought she was using at the time of her death.

[00:20:34] Harold Noriega: well, you know, Xanax is designed to anti uhde depressant and anti-anxiety medicine, and I guess it somehow makes you feel . different, better. I took one once on a flight cause someone said you could sleep. And this was like couple decades ago. I didn't like it. I took an Ambien, I think that's what it's called.

I didn't like that either. I've never done drugs. I don't do drugs. just me. I've always been an athlete and I've kind of looked at like health to be, that's my drug to get my endorphins up and, know, get my adrenaline going from sports. So I don't have any experience with it other than I didn't like it, it didn't work for me, not my thing. But I understand one, Xanax, take a lot of edge off from how you're feeling, but it's also one of the two most dangerous. Drugs to try to detox from if you are not weaned off those carefully, you can physically die.

Whereas other drugs, you cold Turkey, you can get off 'em on your own. these two, benzos and alcohol need to be done at our doctor's care because you can just, you can put your body in a situation that it'll die. Trying to get off those on your own. So that was his drug of choice.

He was struggling at that time with a lot of different things, where he was mentally with his best friend, with his girlfriend. I don't know much more about that, but on that day, I mean, we had chatted, I chatted with Cooper, he was in an Uber, going to la. about two hours before he passed away, he was actually on his way.

We've discovered later to a Bible study. You know, Cooper's always been a, very, had a strong belief in God and his faith. He was on his way to a Bible study, but what I can tell you is that he stopped and got a Xanax from somebody that he trusted, and it was Fentanyl and he never made it. Out of the parking lot where he met the individual to get what he thought was one Xanax?

 (MUSIC UP) 

[00:22:30] Angela Kennecke: Sadly, similar tragic stories are being played out all across the U. S. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention set out an alert earlier this year about a rise in deadly overdoses involving fake prescription pills. The overdoses doubled from July of 2019 to December of 2021.

[00:22:54] Harold Noriega: (MUSIC UP) 

I don't know the whole story yet because it's still under criminal investigation. it looks like, from what I've been told, he walked out, started slowing down, sat down on a curb, and then passed away. Fentanyl. Will, As you probably know it well, it's like shutting down a computer when you go to like, log off and everything starts to shut down and then all of a sudden screen's off fentanyl's very fast when it takes effect in your body.

And, he didn't have time to do anything to, you know, he had naloxone with him, but he couldn't get to it in time.

[00:23:29] Angela Kennecke: Oh, he had Narcan with him. Yeah, well, there was probably no way for him to realize that quickly what was and how awful. How 

[00:23:36] Harold Noriega: That's how fast and how dangerous Fentanyl is and how deadly it is. And one of the things that we've learned through the end overdose platform being very involved with them, is that you don't even think about it. But if you're a kid out there that is doing drugs you know, you know, it's not hundred percent prescription, don't use alone because you can have Narcan, but you may not be able to get to it.

[00:24:00] Angela Kennecke: Right. That is a, a true point and I mean, I know the devastation that you felt and that your entire family has felt. What got you through those early days, I mean, you're only a year out,

[00:24:14] Harold Noriega: well, in the days that happened after that, me being, my personality immediately jumped into . Like, okay, we've got, what do we do now? The logistics. 

Okay, gimme something to do so I can like get my mind off this. logistics of like, his passing his body, what are we gonna do? Are we gonna do a cremation? Are we gonna do a burial? that stuff. Celebration of life. All these logistic things that we have to address.

was also the media because he was a personality, so lemme just take you back. To this. So we get a call early evening on June 9th, don't know what's going on. Sounds weird. my wife and I are at a, community barbecue at the beach where we live. We just go, let's just go. So we go home. vet this out 'cause we, I get phone calls all the time from like, scam phone calls.

You know, we're the government. social Security, all that stuff. We vetted it out. It was the LA County Coroner and they us the bad news. So the world goes upside down at that point in time. Right. the next day is my birthday, June 10th, I start getting all these Facebook messages and Instagram messages and text messages. Happy birthday, and I had a, I put out a message on Facebook early. next morning. Thank everybody, but, and you can go read it on my Facebook. is what's happened, you know, appreciate it. I mean, anyway, it was a message letting anybody know the tragedy that happened. Then the media got, part of it. We didn't know what was going on. Everybody wants to pile in on this, the TMZs, the online programs, and they all want dirt, right? 

[00:25:45] Entertainment Tonight: Here's what we know. Cooper's body was found in a car in the parking lot at a Los Angeles area mall on Thursday. 

[00:25:51] Angela Kennecke: Programs ranging from Entertainment Tonight to NBC News to Inside Edition, wrote stories about Cooper's death.

[00:26:01] Inside Edition: Just hours before his death from the lethal cocktail, Noriega posted a message to his 1. 7 million followers. In which he admitted he was thinking about dying young. He'd also recently reached out to fans to discuss mental health and addiction. Claiming he'd been dealing with substance abuse since he was nine years old. Yo, what's up guys? I have just created a Discord server meant for mental health only.

[00:26:26] Angela Kennecke: Harold says he tried to ignore the noise and concentrate on arranging Cooper's funeral, while also establishing a foundation in his son's memory. However, looking back, he realizes he didn't address his grief in the healthiest of ways.

[00:26:47] Harold Noriega: Dads don't want to talk, men don't wanna talk.

[00:26:50] Angela Kennecke: that's probably why I have so many women on this podcast. As opposed to dads, right?

[00:26:54] Harold Noriega: Yeah, dads don't wanna talk. I don't know. Maybe it's how we're, we're socialized, like the mental health thing to be tough, pillar of your family, whatever. But in the early December, were staying down in the desert for the month of December. 'cause we didn't want to be here around Christmas at home. I've never been a person of this thought process, but I was getting consumed about suicide to the point where like, well, how would I actually do this?

Like one, you know, the logistics side of me, the guy that gets stuff done, you know, the business guy, well, how do you do this, you Well, I'm certainly not gonna put a gun under my chin because that would be messy. I want anybody to find that. Right, and you don't hang yourself because I know people that have attempted that, and sometimes it doesn't work, but I'm like, what am I thinking about?

Right? I'm like, this is insane. This is not me. But that dark hole of grief sucks you down because it makes you feel . the, the guilt and shame of all this, like, this wouldn't have happened if it wasn't because of me. I didn't save my son. I couldn't be a good enough father. You know, you go through all this spiraling negativity and you have to have something that keeps you from going there.

And I think every parent probably does think about it, at least I, I remember describing, I could see this black hole. You know, like peripherally in my mind, and to me it was death. And I go, I'm not going there. I mean, just immediately shift. But the grief kept making that more prevalent to me, to where I started thinking about it.

And it was during that time get a message from a, uh, former neighbor, used to live in our community that I've known through my business of real estate. And she sends me a, a Lisa voicemail and says, Hey, it's me wanna talk to you. We'll see how things are going. Guess we gimme a call, wanna talk to you about something, gimme a call back when you get a chance. So I'm like, I'm thinking, well that's kind of random outta nowhere. And I just saw her playing, with her husband in the community. 'cause her parents still live there.

So they were there visiting. I'm like, that's weird that I saw you, you didn't say anything. It was kind of like, hi. How's it going? Good to see you. Bye. I get this message, so I call back the next day and she says, I wanna talk to you about something and one of first, I'll tell you what it's about and if it's okay. And if it's not, don't have to go there. I just totally respect it and I'm like, wow, am I in trouble? Did I screw something up real estate wise? She goes, no. She goes, that's nothing at all. She goes, I've had the ability through my whole life to, people have reached out to me that have passed and. I've never had anything as strong as your son reach out to me in the last few days where it's been waking me up in the middle of the night, I've talked about it with my husband. He said, Hey, you need to talk to Harold. You may wanna hear it, but if he doesn't wanna hear it, some people don't. Then him the respect.

And I'm like, wow, this is bizarre. So I go, okay, she's never met my son and she. Only knows of him through, she goes, I got this message from Harold's son, Cooper. She goes and looks him up to see who he is, but just calls me, we talk about it. There's things that we discussed that only I would know with Cooper, so I know it was legit. she said, Cooper wants you to know that didn't mean for this to happen. And he is very sorry, but you know, he didn't kill himself. His trust was betrayed and just very sorry for all the pain that he's causing you and Mom and Parker and sab, which was his girlfriend. but just please understand that, not mean for this to happen and understands your pain, but he goes, he has things for you to do

[00:30:36] Angela Kennecke: Wow,

[00:30:36] Harold Noriega: and she continued to say, and you'll know when there are things for you to do she's at this point in time, she's communicating with him and says, I will be there and you'll know. You'll feel my presence. And you'll feel my presence often, but you'll know 'cause it resonates with you. And you'll know when it's something that we're not supposed to do. It won't resonate. But you'll know what it is 

 (MUSIC UP) 

[00:30:58] Angela Kennecke:  Harold continued his conversations with his friend, delving not only into his own thoughts, but also discussing Cooper's ex girlfriend, Sabrina Quesada who goes by Sab. Sab was also a social media star and influencer. 

[00:31:14] Sabrina Quesada: Hi guys, it's Sabrina and welcome back to another episode of Brutally Honest

[00:31:18] Angela Kennecke: The two had broken up shortly before Cooper's death.

 (MUSIC UP) 

[00:31:29] Angela Kennecke: Obviously this really affected her too.

[00:31:32] Harold Noriega: Yes, she had attempted suicide in around the first of the year, and, coop had said, I was there when this happened, and I kept her from going and, and I will be with her always, but I need to also let her go. I need to let her go so that she can move forward and have the life that is meant for her. But there will also be things for her to do, but she, she will be moving forward. And so SAB also talks about how Cooper was there with her in the hospital and that's how she was able to survive. So it's kind of weird that, that, This girl would know this, and that's what happened. 

But the point I wanna make is when I was off that conversation, I immediately, the weight of guilt and shame and the grief about that part that was making this dark hole so much larger and prevalent was gone. And actually, I just kind of started laughing and going. it all makes sense now. And at that point, moving forward, things started opening up for us to be involved with. And they've just gone like this. It's been unreal.

[00:32:40] Angela Kennecke: I understand what you're saying. Um, I actually wrote a blog called Collateral Damage. I had a friend who was a friend because she also lost her son to fentanyl poisoning, and we went through court cases together and things like that. And, she was also involved in our charity, Emily's Hope, completed suicide.

And I always say I can understand that as a parent who's lost someone to fentanyl poisoning, I can understand those dark thoughts that you're talking about. anybody who loses a child at some point has those thoughts, like, why am I even here anymore? And if, I would've been a better parent or if this or that. all had those

[00:33:17] Harold Noriega: The anger, the hatred. The people that did this to the cartel, you know, the open border, the, drug dealers. It just, vortex sucking you down.

[00:33:26] Angela Kennecke: you know and what you talk about that, acquaintance, you contacting you. I had something similar happen in the first year after I lost Emily. I went to go do a, news story. I was working as a reporter and I was out on location and this young woman said, I have to tell you something. And, said, I, get these messages, I see these things sometimes. And she said, your daughter is your hand right now and telling you how sorry she is. And she didn't mean for that to happen. So it was the same kind of message, and I didn't know if it was for real or not. It sure gave me what you just said. Gave me goosebumps and I mean, I was just like floored

[00:34:02] Harold Noriega: lemme share something else you that, I don't think we've shared yet publicly. so Was Girlfriend SAB, so this was, I'm gonna guess say March or April this year. So, She comes out from the hospital decides to like, okay, I'm glad this didn't happen. I didn't die. And starts working on her mental health starts opening up slowly. She also like me and like pretty much everybody else other than Triva. just started grieving from day one. But everybody else kind of held it. And you see it roughly around the six months. marker. People are like acting out and it's coming out and they're struggling. And so we're all rallying around each other to like, we all need to talk. We we're here for you, et cetera. 

So SAB comes out and then she goes on a model shoot in a brand shoot in Morocco with one of her best friends who was very, was also a close friend of Cooper's and another model. they go to Morocco. And they're there and they're doing, they're being filmed for, think it was Christian Dior, one of those big bougie brand model things. And so they're taking photographs of themselves to do their own social media content, to put it on their own, you media and YouTube and stuff to stuff that they're also, doing,

Sab takes with her, one of those Fuji cameras. They're like a Polaroid little disposable camera. Mm-hmm. a box and it's in a wrap. So she takes it with her home flies to Morocco. They're out there. She takes it with her one day when they're all shooting and they got a break, and the girls are out taking pictures.

She undoes the wrapper, takes the camera outta the box, takes a bunch of photos, dah, dah, dah, throws it back in her bag, finishes a trip, comes home, goes, gets it developed. Then all of a sudden picks the film up and she gets the prints and they give you a digital strip, right? then she immediately tells Treva going, this is insane. Let me text you this. 

She goes, here's the pictures of the trip. Lemme show you the strip. There's a picture of Emma, her best friend. It's up there. There's a picture down below. So it's a three picture strip picture of the other gal. Oh, of Sab that was there the middle is a picture of Cooper.

It's a picture of Cooper and a T-shirt. nobody's ever seen this photo. We've seen 'em all. I mean, there's literally thousands. But we have gone through all this and Sab goes, there's no way that this camera that I purchased in the United States, that was in the box, that was in the velo wrapping that I took to Morocco, that I opened up there, that I took photographs of all my, girlfriends that I'm on the trip with.

That Cooper's picture's in there. It's not like we were on our cell phone and it was an accidental airdrop, or I clicked the button, took a, it's impossible for that photo to be there, and it was there and we looked at it and we, we just go, it's insane. This is like, this is Cooper. And then we all kind of laugh about it. It's like that's the kind of goes in and Sab had a lot of messages and a lot of things. 

We were just all recently, a couple weeks ago in Italy together, Sab happened to be there when Treva and I were there and we ended up having three nights together of dinner. And then the last night, we were talking about this and. The day before going through that evening, Treva was just going, what is up with you? I just was crying all the time. I go, I really feel Cooper's presence here. I don't know why, but I feel it really strong. So then there's Sab, and we're talking about she's feeling the same things too. And then we ended up connecting with a family there from the United States that also lost a son, was a grandson and a nephew. To Fentanyl poisoning and now we are collaborating with them from the East coast. Triva is doing an Instagram live with them on the 30th of this month. It's amazing. Like where he leads us and guides us, this stuff. But that photograph, Angela? It's i, Inexplainable. 

[00:38:03] Angela Kennecke: wow. That is crazy. And I think you just have to take it as a sign. is no. downside to that, there's no

[00:38:11] Harold Noriega: It's all good. 

[00:38:12] Angela Kennecke: harm. Yeah, it's all good. So tell me where you're taking your foundation and all this work from here.

[00:38:19] Harold Noriega: we still support end overdose as Cooper started, and we have a merchandise, drop every quarter on the coops advice.org website 

[00:38:29] Angela Kennecke: We'll put a link to that in our show notes.

[00:38:30] Harold Noriega: Thank you. If you go to that, management team said, well, coop wanted to do, apparel to support all the proceeds to go to End Overdose. Why don't we also create some other apparel so it can create revenue for the Coop's Advice foundation? So we've done that. We've had like three or four merchandise drops.

We do it every quarter. if you go on it this site now, the first banner photo you'll see is all of his . We call it the LA group. His manager, close friends, everybody that was from la, social media influencers, all the kids that everybody follows. If you scroll down, there's a next group. And that's all his Laguna friends, the kids that he grew up with and surf with, played volleyball and baseball with, and the girls he hung out with.

So we got that. We brought that world in, said We want you to be models for this stuff too. 'cause. everybody wants to see all these people. So we brought that group in. we sell merchandise to fund foundation You know, we're doing podcasts to spread, education awareness about fentanyl.

We've now been led to go down the lane of getting legislation changed at the state and local level in California so that if a supplier of fentanyl to someone who gets great bodily harm or dies, actually is accountable in the state of California. They can actually be accountable, like maybe go to jail, be prosecuted. ' cause our laws at a state and local level are so weak that if we have like a really clear cut case, the sheriff or the departments have bring in the d e A 'cause then they can bring in the federal, level of prosecution, which has a lot harsher penalties for this. And I'm so thankful that the d e A is willing to do that.

[00:40:13] Angela Kennecke: Right, you're right about that. Most states, the laws are weaker, it's the feds that have, prosecution power in these cases. but thank you so much for everything that you're doing, your son's name. Really appreciate it. I always say, we're doing our work here in our little corner of the world and trying to reach nationally are national as well, Emily's Hope and I, but I just think it takes all of us and all of our efforts to really turn this tide of fentanyl poisonings around.

It's a privilege to know 

[00:40:41] Harold Noriega: Thank you.

for having me. Thank you. 

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[00:40:43] Angela Kennecke: And thank you for listening to this episode of Grieving Out Loud. For more information, you can visit the Coop's Advice website through the links in the show notes on this podcast. While you're there, we'd greatly appreciate it if you'd take a moment to rate and review this podcast. Your support plays a significant role in advancing our mission, raising awareness about our nation's devastating drug crisis, reducing the stigma surrounding substance use disorder, and reaching out to those who urgently need help.

Once again, thank you for being here. Until next time, wishing you faith, hope, and courage. This podcast is produced by Casey Wonnenberg King and Anna Fey..

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