Greensboro Reporter

After her granddaughter died from using drugs laced with fentanyl, Debbie Peeden signed up for a billboard with her granddaughter’s picture to alert people to the dangers.

She also has put signs in her yard and car to raise awareness. It seems to be catching people’s attention.

"When I'm in a parking lot people stop and do a double take and look,” Peeden said in a recent WFMY news report. “People stop and ask me about it.” 

And that's what she wants after Ashley Whaby’s unexpected death.

"She was not only beautiful on the outside, but she also had such a beautiful heart,” Peeden said of her granddaughter. "I decided then and there I needed to do something to fight for her. I needed to fight for other parents." 

Peeden has taken her campaign to a new level as she recently became an administrator of Forgotten Victims of the Piedmont Triad, a group that raises awareness about the dangers of fentanyl.

Peeden raised her granddaughter because Ashley’s mother couldn't due to her own addiction, the news report said. Although Ashley struggled with mental health and addiction issues, Peeden noted that she never let those problems define her.

"I was her biggest advocate throughout her life and I will be her biggest advocate in her death,” Peeden told WFMY. 

But ten months after her granddaughter’s death, she still struggles with the loss.

"She died alone,” Peeden said. “Was she scared was she afraid? Did she know what was happening? I just want other parents not to have to go through what we've gone through."