Mourning father: ‘One pill can kill’ — fentanyl, a silent killer

Fentanyl overdoses kill more people than car crashes in our country.

Fentanyl is a silent killer.

You can’t taste it, smell it, or even see a difference between it and other drugs.

The Gibbons family of Pittsford knows the pain of this killer firsthand. 

“We just hope that this will be just one of the positives that come out of losing our daughter,” Kate Gibbons said.

Paige Gibbons, an Our Lady of Mercy graduate, was a freshman in college, home on her first Thanksgiving break.

On a sleepover, Paige and her friend decided to take a percocet pill that they bought over social media.

Paige never woke up the next morning.

“It later was determined that what Paige consumed was 100% fentanyl. She didn’t stand a chance,” Kate said.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is pushing for a change.

“I especially want to thank Kate and Dave Gibbons; her children are the same age as my children. This can happen to any of them,” Gillibrand said.

Gillibrand is calling for support of a bipartisan bill that she says would stop the flow of fentanyl into our communities.

“The Fend Off Fentanyl Act would help agencies disrupt illicit opioid supply chains and penalize those trafficking this drug,” Gillibrand said.

Kate and Dave Gibbons know there is a supply and demand for illegal drugs, and they hope this cuts off both.

“Really our main goal on a local level, build awareness and education that one pill can kill,” Dave said.

Kate and Dave say the heartbreak of losing their daughter will never go away, and they hope to prevent this from happening to another family.