Up Close and Personal: Second Day of Program Ends Up at the Morgue
By John Krispin, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader
Mar. 21–Standing under placards listing the 12 steps and 12 traditions of recovering addicts, several teenagers addressed the nearly 150 at-risk Luzerne County students Tuesday morning at the Clear Brook Rehabilitation Center.
They described the pitfalls of losing trust, loving relationships and lives at the hands of drug and alcohol addictions, but also the steps toward recovery in the program.
School buses from 10 county high schools transported students to the center atop Giants Despair, then to the county morgue at Wilkes-Barre General Hospital and Sacred Heart/St. John’s Church, where they listened as the mother of a drug overdose victim told her tragic tale.
It was the second day of “The Journey to Addiction” program sponsored by county Commissioner Greg Skrepenak and the Luzerne County Drug Task Force.
Still in awe from Monday’s incarceration portion of the program, students heard of real-life dramas from the mouths of four teenagers who described how their lives and the lives of those who love them were in turmoil.
“Inside rehab, you find yourself realizing just who your real friends are, and they aren’t the ones who call because they are out getting high,” said 18-year-old Megan, a recovering addict.
The other speakers resonated what Megan had said about addiction: They all thought it wouldn’t happen to them.
“This sort of contact (with addicted peers) shows teenagers that there is a way out,” said Ed Raineri of Clear Brook. “The peer impact is unbelievable; the students will go home and talk to their families about this event.”
The group also visited First Hospital, an inpatient psychiatric treatment center, where they heard from a recovering addict on the benefits of staying clean.
“Like yesterday, it is better to show us firsthand rather than a video during school,” said Bob Shock, a 17-year-old Pittston Area student. “This program is making me think a lot more about substance abuse.”
At the county morgue, Dr. Jack Consalvo, Luzerne County coroner, said: “The reality of overdosing is what scares them. This is real. Those two bodies in the refrigerator are two individuals who had overdosed last night.”
As they exited the morgue, students had the option of seeing two bodies in bags. Half of the students looked in while the others found the scene uncomfortable. At the Wilkes-Barre church, Theresa Keil of Wilkes-Barre spoke of her 18-year-old son, Andrew, who died in May 2004 from a drug overdose.
“The great thing about Andrew was his smile,” she said. “But he made a decision to become addicted to drugs.”
She detailed how she found her son lying on the floor of the bathroom unconscious; she and her husband were not able to resuscitate him.
“I’m here today to beg you, please be careful in what you do,” Keil said.
Jessica Humko, a teacher at the Plains Alternative Learning Center, believes the program should be an annual event.
“It’s a good experience to learn about drugs and alcohol firsthand like this. These children don’t have an opportunity to learn about its effects before they find out for themselves.”
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Copyright (c) 2007, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Times Leader
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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