Learning from a family’s tragedy

After John Faulhaber’s son, Theo, died at age 35 of a heroin overdose at his desk in his Manhattan office, Faulhaber, an Atlantic Beach resident, realized he had to do something to help prevent this from happening to others.

John and his wife, Doreen, and their surviving sons, Jonathan and Paul, hosted an overdose-prevention seminar, titled Stop the Stigma and Start the Conversation, which attracted a standing-room-only crowd at Atlantic Beach Village Hall on March 8. The gathering focused on ways to fight the growing epidemic of heroin and opiate use on Long Island.

Faulhaber related the problem to an equation, as he exhibited enlarged photos of his son, of the drug that took his life and of Theo in his casket. “I hope this is the first of many overdose trainings here in our community, until there are no more overdoses,” Faulhaber said.

“My kids grew up here. On Dec. 6, 2015, my son died from a heroin overdose. The stigma is that of a lowlife junkie lying in an alley or a hallway with a needle stuck in his arm. My son was none of those things. It could be the popular cheerleader, a high school athlete or an Indian chief. This affects everyone.”

The seminar’s primary goals were to increase awareness of heroin and other opiates, and how they affect the body; to show attendees where to get help for a family member who is using heroin; and to share information on how to assist someone in an overdose situation.

The Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence provided the training. Reisa Berg, a professional development and education specialist for the Mineola-based organization, said that her agency works with individuals with drug dependency.

“It’s paralyzing how this disease can be,” she said. “We are seeing a lot of use of what we call the gateway drugs: alcohol, marijuana and cigarettes. We saw 1,500 people through our doors last month. Of that 1,500, every single person started with those drugs. What used to take years to escalate is now taking months.”