Pubdate: Sun, 10 Apr 2005
Source: Gary Post-Tribune, The (IN)
Copyright: 2005 Post-Tribune Publishing
Contact:  http://www.post-trib.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/827
Author: Amy Lavalley, Post-Tribune correspondent
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?132 (Heroin Overdose)

WALKING AWAY FROM DRUGS

CHESTERTON -- Surrounded by family wearing T-shirts that read, "In
memory of Shawn Rivera," Terri Wickberg couldn't help but break down
Saturday after releasing her balloon.

Attending the second annual Community Action Drug Coalition Walk Away
from drugs, Wickberg, of Valparaiso, talked about her son, who died at
age 18 of an overdose of heroin and prescription drugs.

Rivera had been clean almost a year when he had a relapse, Wickberg
said. She identified her son at the county morgue after his friends
dropped him off without identification at the hospital.

He died March 2, 2002. This is the second year Wickberg took part in
the walk.

"If I can make a fraction of a difference that's going to save another
child, or save a family from the hell I've been through, it makes me
feel my son's death wasn't in vain," she said.

About 200 people took part in the event, held at the Coffee Creek
Watershed Preserve. The walk raised $30,000 for the CADC.

Organizer Mann Spitler, a Valparaiso doctor whose daughter Manda died
from a heroin overdose at age 20, said that in addition to raising
awareness about Porter County's drug program, and bringing in money
for that cause, the event was a "blend of remembrance and
celebration."

It was a remembrance of those who struggled with their addiction and
lost, and a "celebration of optimism and hope for the future and lives
of those freed from addiction," he said.

The brightly colored balloons symbolized the lives lost in the county
to drugs, Spitler said.

Her friends' drug addiction spurred Julie Gast not only to attend the
walk, but also to study for a career helping substance abusers. The
Valparaiso resident is a student at Purdue North Central.

Gast said her friends developed a drug problem while in high school
and she has since lost track of them.

"Especially in Porter County, it seems like a lot of people are not
aware of the huge drug problem we have here," the 2000 Valparaiso High
School graduate said. "A lot of people think because it's a nice,
clean community, we don't have it here."
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