Recovering addicts give firsthand look at opioid crisis in documentary by Allegheny-Kiski Health Foundation

Mar. 26—Falling into a coma didn't quell Brooke Damore's craving for heroin.

Neither did sitting in jail.

"I was doing 10 bags a day at one point," said Damore, 30, a Leechburg native who attended Kiski Area High School. "I had to learn to walk and talk again after I was in the coma. I've spent time in institutions, rehabs.

"I want to tell everyone that it doesn't matter where you're from, what your age is or any of it. Don't do drugs."

Damore's tale is part of a harrowing documentary, "Opioid Addiction: Confessions of Pain, Misery and Destruction," compiled by the Allegheny-Kiski Health Foundation in Harrison.

Foundation director John Pastorek said the film is intended to stem the rise of opioid use in the region.

"You hear about relationships that were ruined, lives disintegrating into desperation and near-death overdoses," Pastorek said.

The 27-minute movie will be shown Wednesday at the Casino Theatre in Vandergrift.

Optional training in administering naloxone, an opioid reversal medication, will be provided.

Anyone who completes the quick course will get a free two-dose box.

Staff from Lost Dreams Awakening, including harm reduction professionals, will be on hand to answer questions. Awakening helped to create the foundation's hard-hitting film.

The event is sponsored through a partnership of the foundation and Cook Medical, also in Vandergrift.

Opioid overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly 75% of the more than 91,700 drug overdose deaths in 2020 involved an opioid.

From 2010 to 2019, opioid-related deaths nearly quintupled, rising from five to 23 people per 100,000.

In 2020, it nearly doubled to 42 per 100,000 people.

According to statewide data, more than 77,700 doses of naloxone were administered by EMS personnel between January 2018 and October 2022.

For Damore, the lure of drugs called when she was about 15.

"I started with weed and opiates before I got to heroin," she said.

Damore said she battled for many years and even had two years clean before relapsing on benzodiazepines.

Today, she is proud to say she has five months under her belt and puts in the work every day to remain drug-free.

Taking classes to earn a GED, Damore also attends Narcotics Anonymous meetings and New Life programs offered daily at Lost Dreams Awakening on Eighth Street in New Kensington.

The nonprofit is run by VonZell and Laurie Johnson-Wade, both of whom have more than three decades in recovery.

Johnson-Wade said the documentary will resonate with people because the subjects are relatable.

"They're honest about their experiences — the good, bad and ugly," she said. "They're not derelicts. These are human beings with families who have struggled."

Johnson-Wade called one of the participants a classic myth-buster. The woman had family support and a proper upbringing.

"She's a mom with a classic tale that it can happen to anyone," Johnson-Wade said.

Kristy McCorkle, Cook Medical human resources manager, said the company prides itself on making an impact in the community.

"One of our core values is to give back," McCorkle said. "We wanted to be part of sharing that documentary."

Johnson-Wade said she hopes the film raises awareness and equips people with strategies to thwart drug use.

"Nobody wants to be a drug addict," she said. "When we're in kindergarten and the teacher asks what we want to be when we grow up, no one says an addict.

"It lets people know overdose is real, but so are the solutions that can help. And, people will leave with a lifesaving medication."

Grateful to be clean from drug use, Damore isn't embarrassed to share her story knowing that it will help someone else.

"Everything it does to you takes you against your morals — robbing people just to get your next one," she said. "In my right mind, I would never do those things.

"I hope people get that it's not a way to live. Drugs aren't cool when they take you to the depths of despair.

"You won't think it's cool when you have to do it every day. You can be anything you want, but not when you're on drugs."

Tawnya Panizzi is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tawnya by email at tpanizzi@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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