[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 171 (Tuesday, October 24, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H8083-H8084]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REMEMBERING LUKE JOHNSON
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick) for 5 minutes.
Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share the story of 22-
year-old Luke Johnson, a graduate of Pennsbury High School in my home
of Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Luke was known for his quirky sense of humor and his laid-back
demeanor. He was a football standout at Pennsbury and was named best
defensive player of the year his senior year. He also wrestled. He
played soccer, baseball, and could throw a Frisbee a mile.
Above all, Luke loved to be with his family and with his friends, and
it was his tight-knit group who supported Luke as he battled the
increasingly common enemy of opioid addiction.
On May 17, 2017, Luke lost his battle with this disease after many
difficult years of trying to return to normal.
Throughout his fight, like so many, he was haunted by shame, loss of
self-worth, and the stigma of being addicted to opioids. This pain was
shared by his friends and family, affecting the entire community, who
just wanted to help, to see Luke be Luke.
As he tried to work his way towards recovery, Luke's parents, Maureen
and John, discovered the genesis of his addiction: a prescription
opioid pill given to him on his first day in high school. It progressed
further when he was offered opioids after football game wins during his
junior and senior year in high school. Ultimately, he was offered and
accepted the invitation to try heroin.
Imagine the difficulty for this family and millions like them. At
first, Luke's family was dumbfounded, angry, and hurt. They had no idea
the difficulty he was facing.
They mobilized to support Luke by placing him into a local
rehabilitation facility, but later found out that their insurance would
not cover inpatient treatment, so they sold their car for his initial
recovery. However, when Luke came home, the people, places, and things
from his old life triggered a relapse.
His parents hoped that a facility in Florida would remove these
triggers from Luke's life and put him on the road to recovery. After
several months of recovery in Florida, Luke was forced to find another
place to live. This was the move, Mr. Speaker, that he was not ready to
make. He died a few days later, before he had fully unpacked the few
belongings that he had.
Following Luke's death, his parents established the Luke's HERO in ME
Foundation in Yardley, Pennsylvania. Their goal is to help with the
awareness, education, and to destigmatize opioid addiction. Ultimately,
they want to ensure that other family, friends, and community networks
can save their Luke.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Congressional Record a letter I
received from Luke's parents.
October 17, 2017.
Congressman Fitzpatrick: Thank you for speaking with me at
the David's New Day event last weekend. Your support for the
opioid crisis has been more than welcome. The recent news,
spurred by the 60 Minutes investigation, suggests that there
are very deep rooted issues that need to be addresses to
fully confront this issue. In short, you and your colleagues
have much work to do. If there is anything we can do to help,
please let me know.
I have included my son's story below to go along with the
funeral card I gave you. I hope putting names, faces and
stories to the cause will help drive the needed change.
John Luke Johnson, always known as Luke or Lukey or Duke,
was a handsome athlete with piercing blue eyes. He was known
for his quirky sense of humor and ``chill'' demeanor. He
loved his dog Ethel (aka Ed Rendell)--she was just as quirky
as Luke--and It never ceased to amaze me how gentle and kind
Luke was to Ethel and all animals. He was a good athlete,
playing football (named Pennsbury's best defensive player his
senior year), wrestled, played soccer and baseball. He could
throw a Frisbee a mile. He loved to be with his friends. He
had more friends than I could count. But, his best friends--
Tyler (an Army Ranger), Fardin (a college student) and
Christian D (recent college grad), Christian H (a college
student) he loved most. Like his family, these friends
supported and loved Luke; despite the pain and battle that
comes with addiction, they stuck around until the very end.
In Luke, we lost that good guy next door--that guy that
everyone loved and enjoyed being with.
One May 17th, 2017, our son Luke lost his battle with this
terrible disease only after suffering for a few, very
difficult years trying to return to ``normal''. Throughout
his battle he was haunted by shame, a loss of self-worth and
the stigma of being an addict. This pain was shared by his
family and friends. Our aspirations for him and the
aspirations he had for himself were replaced by the day to
day struggle against the emotional and physiological damage
caused by this disease.
During the process of recovery, we learned about Luke's
path to becoming an addict. It started with a female friend
giving him a pill (an opioid) to try his first day of high
school. She passed away of an overdose last year. It
[[Page H8084]]
progressed further with a mom rewarding football players with
opioids after game wins during his junior and senior year.
Ultimately, he was offered and accepted the invitation to try
heroin.
Until Luke found himself fully addicted and came to us for
help, the indications were almost silent. He had the normal
ups and downs of a teen and at times indulged in alcohol and
smoked pot. While we had many discussions about making good
choices and the implications of drug and alcohol abuse, we
were not aware of the opioid use and the changes to his
brain. We are confident Luke was not aware of the permanency
of his actions and what he would ultimately have to battle.
Initially, we were dumbfounded, angry and hurt. Our
understanding was limited to the stereo-type junkie from the
70's and the ``just say no'' Dare program information we
received during the elementary school assemblies. We had no
clue about how the drug had changed his brain and the very
real difficulty he was in. We were quickly enlightened by our
daughter Alex, who had recently studied this in college.
We mobilized to support Luke by placing him into a local
facility. Our insurance would not cover inpatient treatment
(we were told only after a relapse) and we sold our car and
scraped up the 20k it cost for his initial recovery. After a
24 day stay, Luke came home but soon returned to using--
despite meetings and drug tests the triggers ``people places
and things'', we learned, were very real.
We found a place in Florida for Luke and assumed that being
away from the triggers was best for Luke. He lasted 3 or 4
months and returned home only to use again. After several
months, Luke found another place and was in recovery and
clean for 9 months. After the facility in Florida changed
ownership (and the new staff now cared more for insurance
money than keeping their charges clean), Luke was forced to
find another place to live. This was a move he was not ready
to make. He died a few days later, before he had fully
unpacked the few belongings he had.
After Luke's death, we established the Luke's HEROin ME
foundation. The goal of the foundation is to help with the
awareness, education and to destigmatize opioid addiction;
ultimately, so others can save their Luke. While we have much
more to do, we have made progress in our local high school,
have shared Luke's story on radio, in the press and have
begun to organize events to meet our goals. We will push to
have a national standard that can be applied uniformly across
the country. We need to have more standards for rehab
facilities, many of which have become corrupt machines that
fuel relapse and overdose deaths.
With opioid overdose (and the more recent introduction of
fentanyl and carfentanil into commonly used drugs) as the
leading cause of death among our young people, we have little
choice.
We would love to support you in any way in your endeavor to
end the opioid crisis. We are in this for the long haul, and
want to help save as many lives as we can.
John and Maureen Johnson.
Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, with opioid overdose as the leading
cause of death among our young people, we have little choice but to
act.
When I met Luke's father, he gave me this picture of Luke, and he
asked that we remember Luke as we work to end this epidemic.
I urge my colleagues to join me in this call to action.
____________________