Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina
Stronger Together! Grassroots campaign against illicit fentanyl in NC IRS recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity EIN: 88-3921380
The Fentvic New Hanover Billboard project is live in New Hanover County.
The locations of the 6 public safety billboards in New Hanover County are:
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – Alex Bradford was about to finish his sophomore year at UNCW when tragedy struck.
At just 19 years old, Alex fell victim to deadly fentanyl poisoning after ingesting fentanyl through drugs he bought from a fellow classmate. He passed away in March of 2022.
“Alex suffered the same pressures as many college students do with mental health, and unknowingly ingested illicit fentanyl because he chose to self-medicate,” Jeremy Bradford, Alex’s father, said.
Now, after months of suffering and grief, Jeremy and Alex’s Mother, Millisa, started 2 Out Rally, a foundation to honor Alex’s legacy and bring awareness to the harmful impacts of fentanyl. The name was inspired by Alex’s love for baseball.
A quote from the 2 Out Rally website says, “2 Out Rally….even in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs, there is still time to RALLY. 1 at bat can change the outcome of the game. 1 moment can change your LIFE. NEVER give up, show love and compassion, it could save a life.”
Now, the Bradfords have partnered with Barb Walsh, founder of the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina, to include Alex in a series of digital billboards across New Hanover County. Walsh is also personally affected by fentanyl, as her daughter, Sophia, passed away from fentanyl poisoning in 2021.
Together, the team has included Alex’s image and story as part of the 13 victims displayed on the billboards. Walsh says she hopes these billboards will inspire other family members of fentanyl poisoning victims to come forward and seek support. She believes that together, they can rally to end the fentanyl epidemic so that no other family has to suffer.
“Those billboards are a public messaging system. They’re a PSA. I want to replicate what the Bradford’s have done because we’re not going to win this if we only work by ourselves,” Walsh said.
But this battle is far from over.
“You’re literally playing Russian roulette if you’re choosing to utilize drugs that you don’t know could be laced with fentanyl. Alex didn’t know,” Bradford said. “It’s really to bring a face to the epidemic, because it doesn’t matter your economic background, your status, how you were raised, your religious belief, fentanyl does not discriminate.”
The locations of the 6 public safety billboards in New Hanover County are:
If you or someone you know is personally affected by fentanyl, you can visit the Fentanyl Victims Network of North Carolina website for more information and support.
To learn more about Alex’s story, you can visit the 2 Out Rally website.
Copyright 2023 WECT. All rights reserved.
Read the full article and watch the video on the WECT News 6 web site.
FENTVIC.ORG is pleased to host:
FIGHT ILLICIT FENTANYL CAMPAIGN, NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC
10/8-22/2023 Public Safety Digital Billboard Campaign
10/14/23 Family Summit on Fentanyl Fatalities in NC: Public Safety & Justice Conference
DETAILS
10:30-3:30. Private Event for NC Fentanyl Victim Families & Press who pre-register. Separate press release to be issued.
PURPOSE:
CONTACT
Locations: 6 Public Safety Billboards in New Hanover County
The Fentvic billboard campaign running in Winston-Salem will come to an end on June 26th. The billboards have been captured in a time lapse format and the portions for other advertisers has been removed leaving just the victims featured on each one. See the billboard content on the YouTube videos below.
For six long months, Andrea Scales didn’t know for sure how her only son died.
It took that long for a toxicology screen run by the state medical examiner’s office to come back with a ruling: fentanyl poisoning.
Someone slipped her son what he surely thought was a Percocet pill. Instead, the pill contained fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid similar to morphine, and it took his life.
Jeremiah “J5” Scales, an accomplished athlete at Parkland High School, was 19 years old.
“I knew nothing about fentanyl … one Percocet doesn’t kill you,” Scales said. “It was the last thing I ever expected.”
Now, a little over a year since she buried Jeremiah, she’s decided to see if she could save another mother from feeling the same crushing pain.
She allowed a photo of her son to be included on a month-long billboard campaign to educate and raise awareness about an epidemic that has killed thousands of North Carolinians.
“It just hurts … extremely painful to live without your only child,” Scales said. “Yes, I’m all for educating other people about it and doing whatever I can do.”
Read the full article on the Winston-Salem Journal website (subscription may be required).
By Tessa Bradshaw at the Kernersville News June 1, 2023.
On Monday, 18 billboards went up around the Triad with faces of those the community has lost due tofentanyl poisoning. One of those faces was Walker town local Christian Wilson who died from fentanyl poisoning in 2019. The billboard reads, ‘join us and fight illicit fentanyl.Christian, Forever 19.
Christian’s mother, Crystal Wilson, of Walkertown, has made it her mission to help others who are going through this and to also help bring awareness to the rising issue of fentanyl in the county, state and country.
She explained that the 18 “angels” on the billboards, including her son, are only a fraction of the people that North Carolina has lost to fentanyl poisoning.
We say poisoning, not overdose. It is a poisoning because they don’t know what they’re taking.
An overdose is taking too much of a known substance.They don’tknow that this is there, so it’s considered a poisoning.
Crystal Wilson
This article is not available online, to read the full story from the Kernersville News, download the PDF scan of the article.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Illicit fentanyl is a deadly drug.
According to the state Department of Health and Human Services, there was a 22% increase in Fentanyl deaths in North Carolina in 2021.
Families of 19 of those lives taken too soon were brave enough to put their loved one’s faces on display here in the Triad.
A roadside tribute to Jeremiah Scales warmed the hearts of his grandmother and mother Andrea Scales.
“To see his face on the screen with other angels who have lost their lives to such a deadly poison,” Scales said. “His beautiful face is still alive in his home city it means so much.”
Jeremiah and 18 other faces are in rotation on two Winston-Salem billboards along Business 40.
Read the full story on the WFMY website.
May 29-June 26, 2023, 24/7, digital and illuminated.
Winston-Salem, Forsyth County NC, 2 locations
Purpose is to raise awareness of the 13,376 NC victims of illicit fentanyl poisonings and to generate public safety conversations within communities and families about the dangers of illicit fentanyl, particularly counterfeit pills. Illicit fentanyl killed over 523 Forsyth County residents in the past 9 years, 2013-August 2022. (source: North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics, Vital Statistics Death Certificate Data)
These are the first billboards of the FENTVIC.ORG Campaign. They feature 19 NC illicit fentanyl poisoning victims with permission of their families. The campaign will run in other cities throughout NC exclusively featuring NC illicit fentanyl poisoning victims. Future campaign locations and dates TBD.
FENTVIC.ORG NC BILLBOARD CAMPAIGN
Administered by Fentanyl Victims Network of NC (fentvic), www.fentvic.org,
Barb Walsh, Executive Director, 919-614-3830, barb@fentvic.org. Fentvic is a charitable nonprofit located in Cary NC. EIN #88-3921380. Fentvic fights illicit fentanyl in NC. Fentvic advocates for public safety for all and justice for NC families permanently damaged by illicit fentanyl poisonings.
In partnership with Forgotten Victims of NC, Patricia Drewes, Founder, 252-204-9611, patriciadrewes@yahoo.com, link to FB page: http://forgottenvictimsofnc.org/
Campaign Locations & Artwork developed Adams Outdoor Advertising, Julie Belnap, Account Executive,336-926-3850 (cell), jbelnap@adamsoutdoor.com
FENTVIC.ORG NC BILLBOARD CAMPAIGN: 2 locations in Winston Salem, Forsyth County