MILWAUKEE — A Pewaukee family is stepping up to bat against fentanyl with a new baseball campaign launched Saturday night at American Family Field.
Caden Rachwal grew up watching the Milwaukee Brewers play with his mom, dad, and older brother Logan.
But in 2021, life threw them a curveball.
“I can see it so vividly, exactly where I was. My mom had to hold me up,” Caden recalled.
His brother, Logan Rachwal, died in his dorm room of fentanyl poisoning on Valentine’s Day. He was 19 and a first-year student at UW-Milwaukee.
Since Logan passed, his family has stepped up to the plate, turning their grief into advocacy.
“We want to make sure that doesn’t happen to any family out there. We’re still dealing with the aftermath, so we have to save a life,” Erin and Rick Rachwal, Logan’s parents, explained.
They created the Love, Logan Foundation to raise awareness about the dangers of fentanyl and to inform communities on how education can save lives.
“Pills are so normalized, and they look so innocent. I want everyone to understand that a pill can kill,” Erin Rachwal, Logan’s mom, said through tears.
This weekend, the foundation launched their “Strike Out Fentanyl” campaign, highlighting their family’s love of baseball and call to action.
Caden flew to Milwaukee from Arizona to throw the opening pitch in honor of his brother and other siblings affected by the loss of a loved one due to fentanyl.
“This is something really important to me. He was a built-in best friend, and both into the same things like baseball,” Caden said. “It’s too late for us, but there are people out there who aren’t aware.”
The most recent data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services revealed that in 2022, there were more than 1400 opioid-related deaths in Wisconsin.
“It’s a problem, and it’s only getting worse. The more people that know and the more people are aware, the better,” Caden said.
Along with an interview and information tables at the Brewers Game, a ‘Strike Out Fentanyl’ billboard went up Friday, Sept 20. at the Ixonia/Sullivan HWY F exit on I-94.
For more information, you can visit their website.
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