A Fresno family is sharing its heartbreak after losing a 23-year-old son to a fentanyl overdose, hoping their story encourages other parents to have difficult conversations before it\u2019s too late. Desiree Silva said her son, AJ, was loved by his family and was moments away from graduating from Fresno City College when he died earlier this month.<\/p>\n
You think it can\u2019t happen to you, or to your family, or to your loved ones, or close ones to you, and it can,<\/p>\n
Silva said.<\/p>\n
The loss comes five years after the family lost another son to violence.<\/p>\n
Silva said she never imagined fentanyl would impact her own family.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never thought that he would die, or anyone would die from fentanyl,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019d see the billboards, but I never thought it\u2019d be our family or our kid.\u201d<\/p>\n
AJ\u2019s parents described him as smart, funny and deeply devoted to his wife, Kassy, and the rest of his family. His mother said he earned mostly A\u2019s and B\u2019s in school.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wouldn\u2019t think he would be affected by this,\u201d Silva said.<\/p>\n
AJ\u2019s father, Elias Aguilar, said he discovered his son unresponsive around 3:30 a.m. on May 6th after getting up to use the bathroom. The family said they immediately began CPR while waiting for paramedics to arrive. Later, the Fresno County Coroner\u2019s Office confirmed fentanyl was in AJ\u2019s system.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey did everything they could do for him, for AJ,\u201d Aguilar said. \u201cBut I guess it was just too late.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family said investigators found pills in AJ\u2019s pocket.<\/p>\n
Silva said she knew her son occasionally took pills to help him sleep, but said she had no idea fentanyl may have been involved.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if he was aware it was fentanyl, or if he just got the wrong pill,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Retired state narcotics agent Robert Pennal said counterfeit pills containing fentanyl remain common and dangerous.<\/p>\n
Those counterfeit pills are very, very common,<\/p>\n
Pennal said. <\/p>\n
They\u2019ve been around for a long time.<\/p>\n
Pennal warned that fentanyl is not always evenly distributed in counterfeit pills, making even a single dose potentially deadly.<\/p>\n
For AJ\u2019s family, the warning now carries painful reality.<\/p>\n
When they say one pill can kill, it\u2019s just like so extreme,<\/p>\n
Silva said. <\/p>\n
Because you think it can\u2019t happen to you and it can.<\/p>\n
AJ will now be buried next to his brother: something his parents said he once asked for.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s gonna be in a double plot,\u201d Aguilar said. \u201cThat was his wish, to be right next to his brother.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, through unimaginable grief, the family hopes sharing AJ\u2019s story will save another life.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t just act like you don\u2019t see it,\u201d Silva said. \u201cDon\u2019t ignore it. Just address it, even if it\u2019s uncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family will hold a car wash fundraiser Saturday, May 23, at 10 a.m. at the gas station near Belmont and Sixth streets in Fresno to help cover funeral expenses and raise awareness about fentanyl dangers. You can donate to the family’s GoFundMe campaign here. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Fresno family is sharing its heartbreak after losing a 23-year-old son to a fentanyl overdose, hoping their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322343,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-322342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}