SAN ANTONIO — Bexar County deputies are receiving a 20-month supply of Naloxone, the life-saving medication that could counteract overdose effects and is commonly known as Narcan. County officials on Friday announced that opioid settlement funds were used to buy the nearly 2,000 doses, which will go into the hands of first responders.
One San Antonio family that watched the announcement is hopeful Narcan will prevent tragedies like the one they experienced.
Veronica and Daniel Kaprosy stood outside the Bexar County Courthouse, holding a framed picture of their daughter Danica.
“She wanted to be an engineer, she had plans of going to New York for college,” the two told KENS 5,.
The family says Danica suffered from insomnia and had bad food allergies. She wanted to make the pain go away.
“We don’t know if it was bought by her or given to her. She took a Percocet and she never woke up; it was a full fentanyl,” Veronica said.
Their reality mirrors that of more than 250 families who have experienced similar tragedy over the last two years in Bexar County.
But the sheriff’s office says it was able to save lives more than 50 times in 2022, thanks to Narcan. The deputies on the frontlines of the continuing opioid crisis are grateful for the latest donation.
“We’re hoping this lasts 20 months," Sheriff Javier Salazar said. "I was asked earlier about what happens if we run out, and we’re gonna have to figure that out sooner rather than later because it is the new normal for us."
Bexar County leaders have collaborated in the past to provide donations of Narcan to the sheriff's office.
“A day like this is really not about us at all, it’s about honoring the people whose lives were lost because they did not have access to lifesaving intervention,” said Dr. Jennifer Potter, UT Health vice president or research, to Friday's crowd.
Friday also marked six months since Danica died. She was only 17 years old.
Her parents want to fight the stigma surrounding drug overdoses, calling it a poisoning from fentanyl.
“They’re not popping a handful of pills, it’s a fentanyl poisoning. They’re taking something unknowingly and they’re dying from it,” Veronica said.
Her parents will spend the rest of their days educating others.
“It happened to our family, it happened our daughter, do something and be proactive and get knowledge of what this drug can do,“ Daniel Kaprosy told KENS 5.
Although the parents did not know what Narcan was or if it could’ve saved their daughter’s life, they are hoping awareness of the drug can save others.