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Sobering Thoughts: Speakers warn Williamstown High School students of rigors of drug addiction

Photo by Michael Erb David Zide, of the Reliance Treatment Centers in Palm Beach, Fla., visited Williamstown High School Wednesday in the My Coming Home Tour. Zide, a Marietta native, shared his first-hand struggle with addiction and how members of his family have fought addiction.

WILLIAMSTOWN — A recovering addict shared his story of tragedy and hope Wednesday at Williamstown High School as part of Drug Awareness Week.

A group from Reliance Treatment Centers from Palm Beach, Fla., visited Williamstown High as part of the My Coming Home Tour. The company is owned by David Zide, a Marietta native who grew up in the Mid-Ohio Valley. Zide shared his first-hand struggle with addiction and how members of his family have fought addiction.

“It’s now my mission to speak with kids and talk to them about the perils of drug and alcohol abuse,” he said. “The biggest message here is silence is deadly. You need to talk about it.”

Zide said the stigma of addiction causes many to avoid seeking help and support, and it prevents youth from fully understanding how drug and alcohol abuse can destroy lives, both for addicts and those they love.

Drugs “are not just killing kids. They’re killing a generation,” he said.

Photo by Michael Erb R.J. Vied, a recovery advocate and director of public relations for Reliance Treatment Centers of Palm Beach, spoke Wednesday at Williamstown High School, telling the story of how drug and alcohol addiction nearly destroyed his life and the lives of those around him.

Wednesday’s event featured two guest speakers, both with their own stories of how drugs and alcohol affected their lives. Rodney Lavoie Jr., a contestant and finalist on Season 30 of the popular reality show “Survivor,” talked about the death of his sister who had become addicted to pain pills after a surgery.

“I was in college when I got one of the worst phone calls of my life,” he said. “My sister Rachel called and said ‘She’s dead. Natalie’s dead.’ “

Lavoie said his sister’s death and the heartache it caused his family drove him to compete on Survivor, but found sharing his and her story has given him a new focus.

“Now I’ve found my true purpose,” he said. “You have to believe addiction is a disease.”

R.J. Vied, a recovery advocate and director of public relations for Reliance Treatment Centers, describes himself as “a man in active recovery” after drug and alcohol addiction caused him to lose his family and led to repeated stints in jail and attempts to kill himself.

Vied said he wishes someone could have spoken to him as a high school student and warned him about drugs and alcohol.

“If someone would have come into my school and talked honestly about drugs, I would have listened,” he said.

At one point, Vied spent seven days in a coma because of an overdose, and when he woke up strapped to a hospital bed and surrounded by family, he thought only of his next fix.

“You want to know what my first thought was?” he said. “How the Hell am I going to get my arms out of these straps to go and get more drugs.”

Vied said he hit rock bottom when he convinced a friend, a recovering addict who’d regained custody of his daughter, to go with him to buy drugs. The friend overdosed, and Vied searched through his pockets for more drugs, money and the keys to his house.

“I took this man away from his kid. He’s overdosing next to me. All I can think of is getting this drug into my body so I can die too,” he said. “I was jealous because he got to die. This is what this disease does to you.”

The friend survived, and later Vied tried to overdose himself while parked near an addiction recovery center. A trio of nurses nearby gave him three shots of narcan to save his life.

Vied said after that he began to refocus his life. He’s now been sober for three years and has begun rebuilding his family and himself as a father and recovery advocate.

“You can’t scare anybody into recovery. You can’t scare anyone away from drink or drugs,” he said. “But you can plant a seed. And that’s why I’m here.”

Kristin Harmon, a Williamstown High sophomore, said she lost her family to drug abuse and spent years in foster care before being adopted. She said the frank tone of Wednesday’s event was well received by students.

“They were putting into our perspective and weren’t holding anything back,” she said. “I think it was great.”

Susan Fauber, a junior at Williamstown High, said more youth need to understand that many people can’t come back from addiction.

“Not everyone ends up fine,” she said. “It really affects lives, and I think this is something that kids need to hear.”

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