2,400 Pennsylvanians overdosed and died in 2014. The numbers are likely higher for 2015.
Heroin addiction has grabbed a hold of many local communities.
We take a closer look at heroin’s grip; what it did to a young man and his family. And how difficult it is to tear free.
An addiction to heroin got Shane Glatt shot 7 times, on this spot in Punxsutawney, back in 2011.
He was 16. He and another man stole from their drug dealer. That dealer found out and shot them in Cranberry alley.
As Shane Glatt recalls, “I crab walked behind my car, he shot me 6 more times.”
A badly injured Shane wasn’t at his low point yet. Recovering from his injuries, he got addicted to opiate pain pills. With no job, he started stealing from everyone he knew, and burglarizing houses.
“I robbed 4 houses, $60,000 all together,” says Glatt.
He was caught, and went to jail for 2 years. He’s been through multiple re-habs. But he believes his latest rehab, now 7 months ago was the last one he’ll need.
“You can definitely bring yourself up, gotta want to yourself, ” Glatt explains.
When he was young, problems in the home pushed Shane to escape the pain he felt inside.
He started smoking pot and drinking at age 10.
As a single mother of two, Justina wishes she had spent more time at home, and less time at work. She didn’t know how to deal with him.
As Shane’s mom Justina Zambory shares, “I wanted so much to believe, not my son, not my son, just like a lot of parents out there believe, not my kid, but think again.”
Shane got a girl pregnant when he was 14. He started injecting heroin at age 16. He dropped out of school and spent most of his waking moments, trying to get the money to get high.
“It’s horrible everywhere, not just Punxy, Dubois, LA, it’s a plague, they’ve infiltrated, ” says Dr. Hallie Carlton, Shane’s counselor. She says things have to change because heroin, and opiates are ripping this state apart
As Dr. Carlton tells it, “People are dying and I’m sick of it.”
That’s why Shane is speaking out. He wants to get his life back on track and save others.
“What’s the point of you sharing your story, talking? I just want to help at least one person, all that matters to me, I don’t want to go down the path I went, ” adds Shane.
Shane is now out of jail, on probation, working locally and raising the girl that he and his girlfriend Brittany Frampton had when they were both 17.
What Frampton’s learned is that sharing the burden and getting through each day comes from communication.
“Try talking to him, instead of getting all mad and assuming, which I’m pretty good at.”
Now at 22, they’re raising a young girl, and trying to keep Shane away from heroin’s grip.
Framptom says, “I think he can definitely do it; it’s just a matter of getting through every day.”
Looking through albums of pictures, he can see he was often high.
Shane says knowing what he put his girlfriend and family through is the toughest part.
“Guilt and shame is the hardest for me.”
Now it’s time to make new sober memories, and build a solid life with his family.
Again, Glatt. “I gotta long road ahead of me, not gonna happen with snap of finger, one day at a time.
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And Frampton agrees, “It’s hard, but its worth it, cause I love him “
Shane’s mom adds, “The connection between me and him is amazing compared to what it used to be. He shows the love; he shows he’s trying. He’s got those girls, that’s gonna be his drive.”
Governor Tom Wolf says fighting the heroin epidemic is a top priority.
An act signed more than a year ago calls for a creation of a state prescription database. Doctors could check the database before prescribing drugs. They could then detect patients who were accumulating pills for abuse or sale. But due to the current budget impasse these efforts are on hold.
