PENNSVILLE, N.J — An 8-month-old baby is recovering after being exposed to fentanyl in a South Jersey home last month, thanks to her mother’s quick response.
Mattie Collins from Pennsville, New Jersey, said she noticed her daughter, Greta, was in distress on Nov. 14.
“When I picked her up, she was nodding out,” Collins said.
Collins called 911 and rushed to get a neighbor, who is a paramedic. Responding paramedics administered Narcan to the child.
“Immediately, she started crying,” Collins said.
Collins said she found what looked like a sticker, but police told her not to touch it. It turned out to be a fentanyl wax fold stamped with the Marvel character Venom.
“It literally looked like a kid’s sticker,” Collins said.
Collins told investigators an HVAC technician had been in the home that day to replace the family’s heater.
She suspected he may have dropped the wax fold near the thermostat, especially after he recognized her maiden name and asked about her brother.
“That’s when it came up that he used to do drugs with my brother,” Collins said.
Police executed a search warrant at the home and brought in drug dogs.
The New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency also became involved.
Collins said her husband was temporarily restricted from being alone with the children due to his admitted past drug use, though the family says he’s been sober for several years.
“Until they got our urine test, they had to do a safety plan, so he wasn’t allowed home alone with his kids. And at one point, he was crying because he’s like, ‘This is totally unfair,'” Collins said.
Collins said urine and hair tests came back negative, and the family was told the case would be closed.
A law enforcement source said the HVAC technician acknowledged knowing what the fentanyl fold was and recognized the Venom label, but denied dropping it. Authorities said there is not enough evidence to charge him.
A lawyer for the technician’s employer said the company took immediate action, but declined to provide details. The company had no further comment.
Neither the technician nor the company is being named because no charges have been filed.
Collins said Greta is not expected to suffer long-term effects.
“I look at her and then like, sometimes I do get emotional because it’s like, she could not be here,” Collins said.
The Division of Child Protection and Permanency hasn’t returned requests for comment from our sister station in Philadelphia. Collins said the family is considering suing the HVAC company for negligence.
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