Wausau community leaders held another rally this morning in a continuing effort to address the problem of heroin addiction.
Luke Sliwicki is a heroin addict and young father who is trying to turn his life around. (Learn more about Sliwicki in this WPR News story about him from July.)
This morning, he took another step in his personal fight by sharing it with a theater full of people. Sliwicki says like other recovering addicts, staying sober is something he has to work at every day.
“I wake up every day and I thank the Lord I am where I'm at, because I could always be worse,” he said. “And I just try to continue to keep doing what I'm doing. I think about my son growing up without a father.”
Sliwicki hopes by sharing his story, he can keep others from repeating it: “If it's going to help somebody, or help family, or help someone understand addiction more, why would I want to keep it inside?”
This was the third public event held by the Pushback Against Drug Abuse campaign in Wausau. Pat Kinney of the Marshfield Clinic says there will be more.
“This is not something that's going to go away,” says Kinney. “This is not something that's a one-time fix. It's not just the people in this room that can solve this problem. It's a community issue.”
Communities all across Wisconsin are fighting a growing problem of heroin addiction. Check out WPR News's special series on the rise of heroin in the state here.
