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A human face behind the state’s depressing heroin statistics

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Illinois

Illinois experienced 1,652 overdose deaths in 2014 – a nearly 30 percent increase since 2010. Forty percent of those deaths were associated with heroin. Illinois is ranked number one in the nation for a decline in treatment capacity between 2007 and 2012 – and is now ranked the third worst in the country for state-funded treatment capacity.

Illinois as a state is just plain horrible at dealing with this public health crisis and has been horrible for a long while.

* There are, of course, very real people behind these statistics…

Dianna Morrison read from her son Shawn Holbrook’s obituary. It is a passionate and powerful message on what heroin can do.

“The beast won this particular war, but the fight is far from over now,” Morrison said.

Shawn Holbrook served two tours in the United States Army during Desert Storm. Holbrook was a member of the Night Stalkers, which is a special operations aviation regiment.

“He never talked about the military after he come home,” said Morrison

Holbrook’s mother said he couldn’t.

“He had a lot of built up things that he never talked about, that I wished he could have talked about,” Morrison said.

* Holbrook’s obituary…

Mr. Shawn Holbrook, age 48 of Anna, died Wednesday, July 27, 2016. He was born February 2, 1968 in Carbondale.

Shawn is survived by his daughter, Kaitlyn Rae Holbrook of Salem; mother, Dianne Morrison of Anna; father, Dennis Barry Holbrook of Murphysboro; two sisters, Heather Holbrook of Milwaukee, WI, and Shannon Jauch of Springfield; uncle, Tim Morrison and fiancé, Shelley of Cobden; aunt, Deborah (Buzz) Crowell of Anna; nieces and nephews; best friends, Dean Bernhard and Todd Lasley; special friend Tasha Simmerman; other relatives and many friends.

Shawn enjoyed the outdoors, arrowhead, morel and ginseng hunting were a few of his favorites. He proudly served his country in the U.S. Army Special Forces, serving two tours of duty overseas. Finally ranked as E6 Staff Sergeant after five years and nine months of service, a rank of this level is highly marked in such a short time. His military occupational specialty was 67U3C0, medium helicopter repair.

Shawn loved his sisters and was very proud of his family. His daughter Kaitlyn decided to follow in her father’s footsteps and join the U.S. Army a well, currently she is stationed in Ft. Jackson South Carolina for Basic Training.

How does one recover from war? Many don’t. Not fully. As noted from his ranking, Shawn was wicked smart. Many years ago, Shawn was diagnosed with PTSD, which is a very real struggle for many of our nations Veterans. PTSD led to one addiction after another. Many people have a misperception of addiction, and the struggles one endures when the demon latches on to their back. Heroin is a beast and Shawn did not seek out to be an addict, but many things led to that and he left all his fight on the battle field in Desert Storm, fighting for our freedom. The beast won this particular war, but the fight is far from over.

We are all faced with challenges every day and it is our choice how we deal with those in the beginning. However, after one bad choice that takes us down the path of destruction, we don’t always have the choice to turn back around. It doesn’t make us week, or bad, but it ensures that we are all human.

The purpose of this obituary is not to excuse Shawn from anything he has ever done, but to promote awareness and education not only for addiction, but heroin addiction. Please as you read this, take a mental note of anyone you know struggling from addition. We all know someone. They need help and support, not to enable but to fight, as sometimes the demons are too strong for them to fight alone. Please pray for his family as they say their goodbyes, remember the good times and lay him to rest peacefully.

Funeral services for Mr. Shawn Reed Holbrook will be at 1:00 p.m. Wednesday, August 3, 2016 in the Rendleman & Hileman Funeral Home in Anna. Interment will be in the Anna City Cemetery. Graveside military rites will be conducted by the Carroll P. Foster Post #3455 of the V.F.W. in Anna and the Illinois Army National Guard Military Honors Team of Marion. Friends may call after 11:00 a.m. and until the service hour at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 3, 2016 in the Rendleman & Hileman Funeral Home in Anna. Memorial contributions may be made to the Rendleman & Hileman Funeral Home to assist the family with expenses. Envelopes will be available in the Rendleman & Hileman Funeral Home in Anna.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 11:06 am

Comments

It’s a tragedy all around. One of my social media friends and someone I hung around with in the ‘hood in the old days just lost a child a few months ago to heroin or opioids. Very heartbreaking.

I’m glad that this state expanded MMJ to cover PTSD. It’s night and day safer than opioids/heroin. I hope our veterans seek any help they can to avoid harming themselves with hard drugs.

Comment by Grandson of Man Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 11:22 am
Very touching and poignant obituary.

Thank you Shawn for your service and sacrifice. Condolences to all his family and friends.

Is anyone paying attention?????????

Comment by illini Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 11:28 am
We need to stop calling them “overdoses.” This suggests that there is a safe “dose.”

Let’s start calling it what it is - heroin poisoning.

I’m serious about this.

Comment by Soccermom Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 11:31 am
Wow - incredibly powerful. Rich, thanks for sharing, and God bless his family.

Soccermom, you’re right - we need to change how we talk about this and how we see it. For me, the first step was recognizing that “addiction” meant “illness” and not “character defect.” This is a public health issue, and characterizing these incidents as poisonings is accurate and appropriate.

Comment by Johnny Tractor Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 11:38 am
@Soccermom- I agree. There is no “safe dose” of heroin.

And, we we do need to get serious and support real solutions to effectively address what really is an illness. We can look to the successful models in Europe like the Netherlands in addressing addiction.

Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 11:38 am
NSDQ, RIP SSG.

Comment by GV Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 11:43 am
Truly heartbreaking.

I have long called for State distribution of currently illegal drugs. Take the profit out of creating addicts.

Fund mental health programs that deal with addiction and mental health including PTSD. We know better approaches today, but are still ignorant.

Veterans and suicide is a terrible problem. My son’s battalion lost 20 people in one tour on Afghanistan. They have had more than 20 suicides in the 8 years since they returned.

We need to step up. Change laws, fund programs, raise taxes and pay what is needed.

Comment by Last Bull Moose Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 11:58 am
Tough read. Thanks Rich for posting this.

My sincere condolences to his family and friends.

So saddened by this, we as a state and society need to do better.

Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 12:07 pm
That was a very thoughtfully-written and touching obituary. Thank you, Rich, for sharing it.

Comment by Christopher Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 12:08 pm
My condolences for the family, such a sad and unfortunate event.

a law enfrocement friend mentioned to me the other day that heroine was getting a huge rise, particuarly with young people. cocaine is apparently on a mjor decline and meth also. heroine has become easier to procure and distribute unfortunetly

Comment by Ghost Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 12:18 pm
They are all “Human faces”. Addiction is a devastating disease and it doesn’t discriminate on who to torture or kill.

Comment by JDuc Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 12:20 pm
Damn.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 12:27 pm
This issue is a national tragedy in that opiates prescribed by a host of doctors for pain often become the bridge to heroin when the prescription runs out, the insurance runs out and the pain persists…now they are addicted with nowhere to turn but back alleys. Additionally, heroin is much cheaper than prescription opiates, and viola’ more tragic obituaries from fallen soldiers to stew bums whom dropped out of society long ago. There must be a better way.

Comment by Captain Illini Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 12:39 pm
From a recent NPR story: “I think what’s struck me the most is the gratitude — just to get out of that environment, even for a little while, to get off the street and be cared for,” Donahue says. “I mean, so many of our participants don’t have anyone who’s caring for them.”

http://tinyurl.com/zxu38g8
****
And, I know I sound like a broken record, but “leveraging” social service providers, putting more pressure on communities to work with less because it helps “turn things around”, is not the answer. Families like the Morrison family need that network to WORK to the very best of its ability. Will every person who is addicted be able to be helped? No, but we as a society should be helping to strengthen the safety nets, not blow holes through them.

Comment by Anon221 Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 1:50 pm
When I was a little boy, my mother, who had been a nurse at Cook County General, firmly told me “don’t you ever use heroin.” I had no idea what the word meant. She explained it to me. To this day, many decades later, I find the very thought of heroin to be abhorrent. Might the same approach work if applied in early grade grammar schools. It’s worth a try.

Comment by Keyser Soze Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 2:08 pm
Keyser, you’ve pretty much described the DARE program. And it didn’t work.

Comment by Soccermom Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 2:13 pm
Agree with Soccermom

It’s so easy to become addicted to heroin. You typically lose everything.

There is a terrific 60 Minutes on heroin that you could probably see via their website.

Comment by Belle Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 2:19 pm
was just listening to “Interstate Love Song” Scot Weiland, so depressing. a waste of people’s lives that drug.

Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 3:36 pm
Soccermom and Belle. You are probably right. And, I have seen the 60 Minutes program. Worse yet, I personally knew and liked four young people, from good families, and from good schools that have over-dosed on H in recent years. I attended the wake of one, the son of a minister. It’s very sad. I guess that it is instinct that makes us look for ways to stop the waste of life.

Comment by Keyser Soze Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 3:48 pm
Keyser. Awareness and education are the first necessary steps to any prevention program. The problem with DARE was its hellfire and brimstone approach to drugs. There is a reason these drugs are so popular, and when the first-time user sees a clear disconnect between what the pamphlets are saying vs. what he’s seeing and experiencing firsthand, it causes a rift and distrust for that authority. Always quick to seize an opportunity, the addiction wedges in, and tells him that he’s not like the “junkies” in the pamphlets, and he’s managing his use just fine. It quickly becomes too late to turn back from that path.

Comment by anon123 Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 4:35 pm
Keyser,

Your post was the exact point I intended to make before I got sidetracked. Good kids and good people get involved in heroin for reasons that most don’t understand.

It is the (also) point that needs to be made whenever someone complains about all emergency responders carrying state funded heroin antidote.

Comment by Freezeup Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 4:43 pm
What I find sorrowful is that NOW that it’s a white problem, we think treatment is the answer…before, when we were told it was a minority problem, it was lock them up! Very sad that we can’t see that when it’s someone’s child…it’s something we may be able to fix.

Comment by Union Thug Gramma Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 5:41 pm
Sorry for the 2 posts…but also, we need to aknowledge how pharma drugs play into this addiction–many kids in sports get hurt, start on Oxy…then fall into heroin. We need to rethink our pain regimen for atheletes.

Comment by Union Thug Gramma Wednesday, Aug 10, 16 @ 5:44 pm