Grieving Broward dad to travel hundreds of miles to bring attention to overdose deaths
MARGATE - A father grieving his son's death prepared to roll across the country for three months in a trailer covered with hundreds of photos of people killed by drug overdoses pumped the brakes after hearing sobering feedback.
He heard so much demand from families wanting their loved one's image included that it delayed the trip. This comes as a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found more than 109,000 people died from drug overdoses in 2022.
That is more than the population of Miami Beach or Davie, Florida.
For Leslie Smith and Fred McQuaide, who work with Angels Across America's Drug Epidemic Awareness Ride, it's anything but surprising.
"This was for me on my birthday," McQuaide said while sobbing and showing CBS News Miami the last letter his daughter Megan wrote before she died of fentanyl poisoning.
"You are a great dad and don't let anyone tell you otherwise," the letter from Megan said. "I love you so much."
Smith cries every day for his son Jeremy, who after a fall on a job took an unprescribed painkiller from someone he met.
"She said I got a Vicodin in my pocketbook," Smith said. "Take it. If you were doing (Oxycodone) this is like taking an Aspirin. He took it. That was the end."
It was the beginning of Smith's involvement with Angels Across America. He sold properties he owned to fund the non-profit campaign that spreads awareness across the country about epidemic overdoses.
Despite the CDC study finding rising numbers of overdose deaths nationwide between 2020 and 2022, Medical examiners in Florida found the opposite with fentanyl-related overdoses. Broward and Miami-Dade Counties saw decreases in the same time period studied by the CDC, according to state records.
Still, Smith wraps his trailer with photos of children lost by parents in his support group of nearly 500. Smith plans to drive the trailer through 15 cities to inspire people to advocate for greater legislative protections and more.
However, as he prepared to leave Friday, demand grew.
"We need to put more kids on," he said.
More families wanted him to add photos of their children who died from overdoses. So, Smith's group ordered a new wrap with smaller photos to fit 125 more faces. While on the road, Smith expects to deliver hope.
His first stop is in Clearwater, Florida on Saturday.
