Christina Maliszewski has spent the past year paying for billboards to be placed across America. Her 100th billboard is on Campbell Avenue in Springfield.
The location has special significance: Two years ago, Maliszewski’s 21-year-old daughter, Leona Swinney, died in Springfield from fentanyl-related injuries. Since then, Maliszewski has been working to raise awareness through her organization, Leona’s Legacy of Love.
Most of the faces on the Springfield billboard are from the Ozarks, with a few from other areas, Maliszewski said. Starting at 4 p.m. Friday, people will gather in the parking lot of Incredible Pizza, 2850 S. Campbell Ave., to share stories, distribute Narcan, release balloons and light candles in honor of those whose lives were cut short by fentanyl.
The billboard will remain up until September 15, and Maliszewski plans to install it again in the same spot in October.
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use as a pain reliever or anesthetic. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, fentanyl is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin for pain relief.
In Greene County, the combination of methamphetamine and fentanyl is proving increasingly deadly. In 2021, 57 overdose deaths involved the combination of methamphetamine and fentanyl, 46 involved fentanyl and 42 involved meth, according to the Greene County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Mother continues her daughter’s legacy
Swinney, a lifelong animal lover who devoted herself to caring for abandoned and homeless animals, grew up in Odessa, Texas. Maliszewski described her daughter as an excellent student who was impeccably organized, kind, and generous, and was known in Odessa for her animal services. In 2022, Swinney moved to Springfield with the hopes of starting her own animal shelter.
Maliszewski said she and Swinney’s brothers had planned to follow her to Springfield, but tragedy struck too soon. One weekend in April, Maliszewski couldn’t reach Swinney by phone. After requesting a welfare check, police officers found Swinney dead in her bedroom.
“That was April 23, 2022 — that’s when I lost her. I vowed that I would carry on her legacy in whatever way I knew how,” Maliszewski said.
Cindy DeMaio of Rachael’s Angels, a nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness and education about fentanyl, reached out to Maliszewski last year. DeMaio, who lost her 17-year-old daughter Rachael to fentanyl, “developed an everlasting friendship” with Maliszewski. One of the primary ways Rachael’s Angels spreads awareness is through billboards across the country, which connect bereaved families through community events.
“Losing a child is the deepest level of grief and pain that a human being can go through. It really is. You are broken forever. It feels like you died and you are still alive. You have to move on,” Maliszewski said. “It is very important that other survivors who have gone through this hell on earth come together and spread awareness about the dangers of fentanyl.”
Maliszsewski hopes that in the future she can fulfill Swinney’s dream of opening an animal shelter while continuing to educate people about fentanyl.
More: Springfield-Greene Co. Health Department Launches App With Opioid Overdose Resources
A ‘poison’ that ‘does not discriminate’
Maliszewski hopes the billboards will not only raise awareness about fentanyl-related deaths, but also about the toxicity of the drug itself and its potential consequences.
“(Fentanyl) doesn’t discriminate. It goes after everybody. You can never say, ‘Not my kid,'” Maliszewski said. “It used to be that you made a mistake and learned from it the next day. Now these kids today make a mistake and they’re dead. They never get a chance to learn from it. They didn’t want to die; they had hopes and dreams and aspirations just like everybody else. It’s a poison.”
According to the DEA, illicit fentanyl is primarily produced in foreign laboratories and mixed with other illegal drugs to increase the drug’s potency. Two milligrams of fentanyl — the equivalent of a few grains of table salt — is considered a potentially lethal dose.
“There is a significant risk that illicit drugs have been intentionally contaminated with fentanyl. Because of its potency and low cost, drug dealers mix fentanyl with other drugs, including heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine, increasing the potential for a deadly interaction,” the DEA reported.
Maliszewski said Swinney ingested the fentanyl when he took Xanax in an attempt to self-medicate.
Maliszewski encourages people to carry overdose medications, such as naloxone, which block opioid receptors in the brain, reversing the effects of an opioid overdose.
Narcan, a nasal spray version of naloxone, is available without a prescription at pharmacies such as Walgreens, CVS Pharmacy, and Walmart and for free through Springfield-area organizations such as the AIDS Project of the Ozarks, Connecting Grounds, OACAC, and more.
Naloxone only reverses opioid overdose, that is, drugs such as fentanyl, oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, or heroin.
The Springfield-Greene County Public Health Department offers an app called Revive417. The app provides rescue instructions, information on recognizing the symptoms of an overdose, maps of drug disposal locations and treatment centers, and information for people who have suffered an overdose.
Susan Szuch covers health and nutrition for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @szuchsm. Have a story idea? Email her at sszuch@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on the Springfield News-Leader: Leona’s Legacy of Love Billboard Raises Awareness of Fentanyl Dangers
