Taunton Family Moves From Addiction To Advocacy
TAUNTON (CBS) -- The devastation caused by heroin is often measured in the number of deaths and overdoses, and that's a horrifying part of the story. But what about the families? We met a Taunton family who has moved from addiction to advocacy, but at a terrible cost.
"Don't do drugs because you could end up like me," says 27-year-old Cory Palazzi.
His speaking voice is strong but slow. His mom is Lori Gonsalves.
"We are the face of today's addict, the family of today's addict," she says.
Cory, a National Honor Society student and varsity athlete, hurt his shoulder playing baseball in high school. He needed surgery.
"And he came home from the hospital with a prescription for 120 vicodin," Lori says.
That was the gateway. When he went to college, he battled depression after his injury meant his dream of playing baseball at that level was dashed. He began using other prescription painkillers.
"He went to oxycontin, and then he went to heroin because oxy became too expensive," his mother said.
"I would pawn stuff from the house and I even pawned all of my mother's jewelry and even my grandfather's wedding ring," Cory says.
He was in and out of rehab a dozen times.
"He had been drug free. He had been clean for about 75 days, and he relapsed," Lori says.
In fact, he overdosed.
"They pretty much told me they didn't really have any hope for him. He actually had died on the table. They revived him on the table. So, I went in and I stood there while my only son was given last rites," says Lori.
Cory suffered brain damage.
"Which means I went without oxygen to my brain for two and a half-to-three minutes," he said.
He had to relearn almost everything and will always feel the after effects. Today, Cory and his family are on a mission, speaking to young people and their parents about the dangers of opiates.
"My hope is to make one kid think about me when they come across drugs so that they can steer themselves in the right direction," Cory says.
"The three most dangerous words you can ever think of are 'not my kid.' Never in a million years did I think that he would ultimately become a heroin addict. And I'm absolutely blessed because I still have my son here, because so many parents don't," Lori says.
Cory and his family are part of a support group called "Learn To Cope." To find out more about the organization, visit the Learn to Cope website.