Rachel's Angels campaign bringing billboards, awareness to ‘faces of fentanyl'
LOS ANGELES - In September of 2021, Eric Kittendorf’s 17-year-old daughter died in her sleep from fentanyl poisoning.
"I can’t function in this world anymore. I go to sleep crying. I wake up crying… I miss her so much," he said.
Kittendorf, who lives near USC, is a man who is understandably overwhelmed with grief.
"She got what she thought was a Percocet pill. Turned out it was fentanyl. She went to sleep and never woke up. She was like any other kid. She wasn’t no addict. She had dreams and hopes," he emotionally stated.
Hopes and dreams like Kyle Hinkel had. He and his mom, Christina Villagrana, used to live in Simi Valley. Just six weeks after moving to Texas with his mom, Kyle died from fentanyl poisoning.
"I don’t know where he got it." But, Villagrana and Kittendorf are glad their kids will be featured on a ‘Faces of Fentanyl’ billboard along with other victims of the deadly drug.
RELATED:
- California opioid epidemic: ‘Melanie’s Law’ aims to tackle youth fentanyl crisis
- Father who lost son to fentanyl brings awareness campaigns to California
The force behind the campaign is Cindy DeMaio. To her, the anti-fentanyl campaign is like the cross-country trip her daughter, Rachel, never got to take.
On May 1, her Rachel's Angels campaign will erect two billboards, showing the faces of young people who have died from fentanyl poisoning, placed in Los Angeles. Why LA?
"Well it was always Rachel’s dream to go to LA and all these towns have what they call a public service announcement. So they’ll put Rachel all over their cities on these public service announcement billboards so I have her traveling all over the country," DeMaio said.
So, whether Rachel, Kyle or Alyssa, there are parents who may feel a sense of hopelessness, but hope their loss can be someone else’s gain.
"I just want to warn other kids or other parents who talk to their kids. They don’t want to feel like I’m feeling. I guarantee it," Kittendorf added.