CONVERSE, Texas — At 17 years old, Danica Kaprosy was struggling with insomnia and food allergies that caused her pain. While her family tried to find alternatives to strong pain medications, she eventually decided to meet someone she found online to get some Percocet.
But the pill she took wasn't Percocet. It was fentanyl. Danica took the pill in the early morning hours of July 22, 2022.
She was already dead when the sun came up.
"It's torture, knowing that your daughter passed away of fentanyl poisoning and we didn't know about it," said Veronica Kaprosy, Danica's mother.
A Centers for Disease Control release in May of 2022, two months before Danica died, showed fentanyl accounting for roughly half of drug-related deaths in the U.S.
Veronica Kaprosy may not have known about the dangers of fentanyl then, but she and other families are doing everything they can to spread the word about those dangers now.
"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," Kaprosy said.
Of course, they also want to reach other families. That's where the billboards come in.
Veronica's daughter is now on billboards in Converse and Selma just east of San Antonio, thanks to the Forever15Project. Brandon and Janel Rodriguez founded the organization after their son, Noah, also died of fentanyl poisoning last August.
He also believed he was taking a Percocet and died after a single pill.
Janel Rodriguez told KENS 5 her son's friends attended his funeral but some continued to take risks with pills from unknown sources. She wanted it to stop.
"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," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said the billboard advertiser, MediaChoice, got so many calls thanking them for bringing attention to fentanyl that the company gave her more billboards for free. She said they now have eight digital billboards and four vinyl billboards after starting the campaign in January. The organization has photos of 25 victims so far.
Rodriguez also hands out flyers at Walmart and Costco to inform local parents.
"One life is all I am trying to save," Rodriguez said. "This is real. Fentanyl is out there. Don't play Russian roulette with your life."
Both mothers told KENS 5 they want parents to talk to their kids about the dangers of fentanyl as soon as possible. Kaprosy said almost any street drug has the potential to be fentanyl in disguise.
"They are putting it in everything. Vape pens, marijuana, cocaine, Adderall—it's frustrating," Kaprosy said. "Act like it can happen to you and your family. Be proactive. Talk to your family and your grandchildren."
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