ANGELS OVER TEXAS: Moms put dead children’s pics on billboards in heartbreaking protest against fentanyl
CONVERSE, TEXAS: Several grieving mothers have joined hands for a noble initiative. These women have one heartbreaking thing in common: their children died due to fentanyl. In order to raise awareness and to prevent any mother from going through the same pain that they went through, they have reportedly rented billboards showing the faces of their children.
Through their campaign, they hope to raise awareness against the fatal consequences of drugs as well as asking other parents and families to have an open discussion with their children. The signboards were reportedly from a media company, MediaChoice, which after getting many calls, has given free boards for the drive, as per the Daily Mail.
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‘Fentanyl steals your friends’
Now, eight digital and four vinyl billboards have been set up across the state with the faces of the 25 people, who died after taking the drug. The signs also come with a caption that says, “Fentanyl steals your friends.”
As per reports, it was Brandon and Janel Rodriguez, who began the movement after losing their son Noah in August 2022. Both of them are also the founders of the Forever15Project, which they started “to spread awareness and to provide resources for those who are at risk or who know someone at risk and to honor those who have been lost.”
Noah reportedly had Percocet, a strong painkiller, but he was unaware that it was also laced with fentanyl, which was the cause of his death. However, that did not deter his friends, who continued taking the drug. Janel told KENS5, “It angered me that they saw their friend lying in the casket and they were still making these choices. So I thought, 'What can I do to show them this is real life?' So I started a billboard in Kyle.” She added, “One life is all I am trying to save. This is real. Fentanyl is out there. Don't play Russian roulette with your life.”
Veronica Kaprosy, who is also part of the campaign, lost her daughter Danica in July 2022. She said, “It's torture, knowing that your daughter passed away of fentanyl poisoning and we didn't know about it.”
‘No one is talking about it'
Kaprosy reportedly said, “We got to this point because no one is talking about it. Us angel moms are now screaming trying to get awareness. Trying to get our government, local and federal, to hear what is happening,” adding, “They are putting it in everything. Vape pens, marijuana, cocaine, Adderall—it's frustrating. Act like it can happen to you and your family. Be proactive. Talk to your family and your grandchildren.”
A letter to Biden
It had been reported that, meanwhile, 21 Republican state attorneys general have sent a letter to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Andrew Blinken on February 8, urging them to name Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist groups. The letter stated, “The same cartels who produce and traffic this dangerous chemical are also assassinating rivals and government officials, ambushing, and killing Americans at the border, and engaging in an armed insurgency against the Mexican government. This dangerous terrorist activity occurring at our border will not abate unless we escalate our response.”