SAN ANTONIO – The stories are tragically similar.
Nici Goles lost her son, Braden, five years ago.
“Braden was 21,” Goles said. “He loved music, loved gaming, loved his Mustang, his family. We lost him on July 18th of 2020. We found out it was Oxy that was laced with fentanyl, so it was truly one pill that killed him.”
Martha Johnson said her grandson, Jake Ryan, was poisoned on April 30, 2021.
“He was such a wonderful person,” Johnson said. “He started struggling with anxiety and he asked a friend for something, and they gave him an Oxy, just one pill.”
Goles and Johnson were each left broken and stunned.
“We didn’t even know what fentanyl was. I’d never heard of it,” Johnson said.
The women joined together with others in their tragic situation. They deemed themselves Angel Moms and vowed to prevent similar deaths.
The group of Angel Moms created Soles Walking for Souls, the first fentanyl awareness walk in Texas.
Now in its third year, the event has exploded. Hundreds of people show up not just to honor lives but hear from people in the highest offices in the city, county and state.
“It is about learning more about fentanyl, it is about learning more what’s coming down the drug pipeline, it’s about how to save a life,” Goles said.
Every year, parents are able to take life-saving information home with them.
“They need to speak to the kids and not feel that they’re too young,” Johnson said. “It’s so sad, but 10 years old and up. They need to know that there’s something out there that is poison, and for them not to take anything from anyone. And it’s in vape, it’s in pot, it is in everything.”
KSAT anchor and reporter Courtney Friedman held a town hall on the topic on Tuesday. Panelists included two Angel Moms, a state representative and a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent.
>> WATCH: KSAT Community Town Hall: Fentanyl poisoning: Know the truth, save a life
The fentanyl awareness walk will be held from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 12 at the Greenline at Brooks City Base. Friedman will emcee the event.
The event will also have a full resource fair where families can connect with community services.
There will be free Narcan, the medication nasal spray that reverses an opioid overdose or poisoning. Experts will give demonstrations and explain how to use it.
There are many ways to get free Narcan in the community.
“They need to keep it in the medicine cabinet just like first aid. That way you just never know,” Johnson said.
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