[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 16336-16337]
[From the U.S. 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 
     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

[[Page 16337]]

     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.

                          ____________________