SHAWNEE, Kan. — A Shawnee family's efforts to raise awareness about fentanyl are now getting the attention of the Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Two weeks ago, Randy and Libby Davis received a letter that they were invited to a family summit on the overdose epidemic at the DEA Headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.
"We believe that God doesn't waste our tears, so there is a bigger purpose for what happened to Cooper," Libby Davis, Cooper Davis' mother said.
Nearly a year ago, their 16-year-old son, Cooper, took half of what he thought was a Percocet pill. It turned out to be a fake prescription pill with fentanyl.
"We started this journey not willingly. It's not a club we want to be a part of," Davis said. "It's certainly taking us to places and doing things we never imagined we would have to do or even want to do."
KSHB 41 I-Team Reporter Cameron Taylor first spoke with Libby in December.
She and her husband created a nonprofit called Keepin' Clean For Coop. They've now spoken at a few schools in the Kansas City area about the dangerous drug.
"We need to make sure every American family knows about this and talks about this," Davis said.
Davis told KSHB 41 she never thought the DEA administrator would contact her.
"Never. Not in a million years. This was really out of the blue. Had no idea," Davis said.
The DEA told KSHB 41 the Davises were the only family from the Kansas City area to get invited to the agency's headquarters for the summit.
The letter recognized their efforts of raising awareness in their community.
"I'd like to think that we are making an impact, that some of the things we're doing are getting noticed, so that makes us extremely proud," Davis said.
Libby is now preparing for the trip where she will meet other families who have gone through a similar experience.
It's her hope they can come together to make a difference in battling the fentanyl crisis.
"We have to make a lot of good come out of our tragedy so that his death is not in vain, and that's what keeps us going," Davis said.
The family will attend the summit later this month.
