TAMPA, Fla. — A Pasco County mother is warning people about the dangers of fentanyl after her 29-year-old son died from the drug nearly four years ago.
Tammy Plakstis worked to put up billboards throughout the Tampa Bay area.
She is working with other mothers and the non-profit organization called Rachel's Angels.
The latest billboard features her son's face. It's located on East Martin Luther King Junior Blvd in Tampa.
The billboard states that the potent, synthetic opioid known as fentanyl may be disguised in "recreational drugs."
Her son, Dylan, died from fentanyl poisoning in 2020.
"The reason why I call it poisoning and not overdose is because it's like Snow White with the apple, you think you're eating an apple and it's poisoned," said Plakstis.
More than a dozen other faces are on the billboard.
Corrine Dejarnette lost her daughter Kaitlyn in March of 2020.
"Because we've all suffered this kind of loss, it bonds us in a special way. It's not a group I wanted to join, but I'm very grateful there are people out there that we can reach out to," she said.
Diana Hundley lost her son, William Osborne, in March of 2020. She works to bring awareness to the dangerous drug and the importance of Narcan and Naloxone, medicines that rapidly reverse an opioid overdose.
"We kind of live through our children doing this and if their faces helps one other family not to go through the pain we have, it's all worth it," she said.
The mothers plan to host a rally on September 21 in Tampa at 10:00 a.m.
The billboards are expected to run at various locations for the next month.
"I didn't think I would ever get out of bed again. Even to this day, I have days like that. I'm so grateful that I have found groups and those moms have been extraordinary," said Hundley.
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