GARDNER, Kan. (WDAF) — The fentanyl crisis continues. This time it hit a family in Johnson County.
The Gardner, Kansas, family has a warning after losing their teenage daughter in a suspected fentanyl overdose. The family said they’re missing 19-year-old Jetaya Lucero’s bright smile.
Last month, Lawrence police worked three fentanyl overdoses in just a few hours. This was one of those cases.
“Worst day of my life,” mom Sharen Lucero said. “You do not want to ever bury a child. No parent should ever go through this.”
Lucero got the call from the police that their daughter Jetaya was at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, and they were told it didn’t look like she would make it.
“Oh my gosh, my heart dropped,” Lucero said. “I was shaking, I was nervous. Lee was driving. All I could do was pray.”
Jetaya tested positive for THC and had high blood alcohol content, according to Lucero. She said a second test showed positive for fentanyl.
Jetaya died a couple of days later.
“Protect your kids. Know who their friends are,” dad Lee Lucero said. “It can happen to any kid.”
Lawrence police said on that night in June, there were three suspected fentanyl overdoses within just six hours.
Jetaya and a 39-year-old man died. One woman survived after receiving seven doses of Narcan, a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose.
Lawrence Police continue to look for the person or people who supplied the drugs.
Investigators work with local and federal agencies to track down those distributing the dangerous chemicals.
In the meantime, the Luceros have a message for those who are thinking about experimenting with drugs.
“Don’t. You don’t want to put your family through this. You don’t want to go through it,” Lucero said. “You may not come out of it.”
Less than a month after losing their 19-year-old, they remember her big heart.
She was an organ donor and will live on to help five people.
“Hopefully, the person who got her heart will want to meet us someday, and we can have a stethoscope and listen to her heart,” Lucero said. “Oh my gosh, it would be amazing to see the person with her lungs and watch them take a deep breath.”
The Luceros encourage everyone to have Narcan on hand. If you are in need of Narcan, click here.
