heroin

December 1, 2015 - 10:55am
Homeless in Syracuse, Evan battles drugs, gun violence, fellow addicts and the cold streets in hopes of recovering from heroin addiction.

Evan, at age two, began reaching for the gymnastics rings. He wanted to follow in his sibling's footsteps.

Soon, his talent became obvious and he was deemed the better of the two. Good wasn't a word someone would use to describe his talent, it was his calling.

By age 12, he needed knee surgery. After that, there were pain killers.

Even with a damaged knee, his coach kept pushing him — leading to more pain killers, not only for the pain, but for a psychological use.

October 6, 2015 - 6:30pm
A Central New York man recounts his struggle with heroin addiction and staying sober.

On a crisp January night, *Brent trudged through the snow, carrying his flat-screen TV to trade for cash. Hours later, he stood in his bare apartment, alone, with his newly purchased heroin needles.  

After a marathon of doping through the night, Brent decided that he could not continue down this path and called the Syracuse Behavioral Healthcare for detoxification services. Since the morning of Jan. 25, 2015, Brent has been clean.