SAN ANTONIO — Saturday was the inaugural Soles Walking 4 Souls Fentanyl Awareness Walk.
Brought together by tragedy, families gathered on the south side to share stories of loved ones lost to fentanyl poisoning. Now they are trying to save lives, using their stories to raise awareness of this deadly crisis.
“I just this just this is awesome that we have this kind of support,” said Soles Walking 4 Souls Vice President Martha Johnson.
Johnson is one of four "angel moms" who spearheaded the walk after losing children to fentanyl poisonings.
"Three moms and a grandma, which is - I'm the grandma,” She said. “So it's for all our children,"
Governor Greg Abbott attended the event, coinciding with the newly created fentanyl awareness month, and shared his hopes for the future.
"We accomplished a lot this past session. But we all know more must be done. And the state of Texas will stay engaged in this process every step of the way," Abbott said.
Stewart Mann has his own hopes for the future. His brother John Salem died in May of 2022.
"We've never experienced anything like fentanyl in the history of our country because one pill kills and it literally will kill you," Mann said.
According to his mother, Libby Pender, John suffered chronic pain. She says he died after taking a Percocet and a Xanax he took in hopes of getting a good night's sleep before a big day at work.
He must have had some doubts about it, though, because he was asking the guy to make sure about. 'You're sure that there's nothing bad in here?'" Pender said. "Had he had a test strip kit to test it I know for a fact he would have tested that pill and he would have been here with this today."
Pender has been pushing to legalize fentanyl test strips in Texas. The tests have broad support but got held up in a committee in the Texas Senate. US Sen. John Cornyn has taken (R-TX) has taken a leading role in getting the strips legalized nationally. Until then, everyone at the walk agrees that taking any pill not prescribed by a doctor is a risk that could be deadly.
"We just heard from the DEA yesterday, seven out of ten pills had lethal dose." Johnson said.
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