BELL GARDENS, Calif. — The city of Bell Gardens has launched a fentanyl awareness campaign after seeing another significant increase in fentanyl overdoses across the region.

The pain of losing his son runs so deep, it knocks a grieving father at Bell Gardens Veteran’s Park off his feet as he stands at his son’s makeshift memorial.

It was the first time Harnoldo Yniguez listened to his 24-year-old son’s music since he died there under a tree from a fentanyl overdose in July. 

“I miss you,” Yniguez cried.

Harnoldo says Oscar never did drugs. He was autistic and made his way to Veteran’s Park without his parents knowing. Here, Yniguez said, someone gave Oscar fentanyl for free. 

Cameras at the park captured Oscar begging for help as he struggled to breathe, but he was left for dead. 

It’s an unbearable reality that his father and first cousin, Lisseth Flores, are still grappling with.

“He could’ve been helped by the people at this park, who he asked for help,” Flores said. “He could’ve maybe never been given this fatal drug by someone who took advantage of his mental situation and cost him his life. And he could’ve been helped if someone would’ve gotten here on time. It would’ve saved his life.”

She won’t let Oscar die in vain. While she can’t change the past, she also happens to be a city council member, determined to use the seat to save lives. 

Flores has launched a fentanyl awareness campaign, starting with a Narcan training for all city staff. She’s also given direction to stock all city facilities and parks with Narcan, equipping the community with the resources and education to address what she calls a crisis.

“So, we bring awareness to our youth, let them know that this drug is out there and that it’s fatal, but also to remove the stigma from the community,” she said.

It's a stigma she believes stopped the Bell Gardens community from helping her cousin, who she says was clearly in need, and one police say they are combatting, too. 

Bell Gardens Police Chief Scott Fairfield showed body camera footage of his officers administering Narcan for an overdose during a presentation at a City Council meeting talking about an alarming increase in opioid and fentanyl overdoses.

He talked about an explosion of pill seizures this year, many laced with fentanyl. So far, Bell Gardens police have already seized over 115,000 pills in 2022, compared to 460 in all of 2021.

“It’s not just an LA County problem," Fairfield said. "This is a national problem that’s getting worse before it’s getting better.”

He said four out of every 10 pills with fentanyl contain a potentially lethal dose, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. 

“[It’s] a regular thing on a weekly basis that we respond to overdoses,” said Senior Officer Angel Puente. “We have to use Narcan on a regular basis and it’s just more and more. It’s a different city than I’m accustomed to.”

It's a city Yniguez is struggling to forgive as he pictures his son gasping for air in a park full of people who he said did nothing.

“Because Oscar is a good person, good people," he said, fighting back tears. "Every day is hard to live because Oscar is not here.”