NORTH RIDGEVILLE-Recovering addicts, users and family members who have lost loved ones were not alone as 205 people came together to raise awareness of the devastating effects of heroin July 27.
PHOTOS: North Ridgeville Wellness Walk
Serena Johnson, of North Ridgeville, and member of the Lorain County Walkers for Wellness congregated at South Central Park at 2 p.m. to lend support to those struggling with the ramifications of heroin and to let their voices be heard.
‘I walk for my son,’ Johnson said as she embraced her 20-year-old son Jacob in her arms.
Those in attendance walked from the park along state Route 83, Center Ridge, Root and Bainbridge Road to raise community awareness.
Johnson – whose son has been a recovering addict for six months – has attempted to hold walks in her hometown and in Vermilion as recent as last year, but said she has never seen the support she witnessed July 27.
‘The most important thing is to show everyone here that they are not alone,’ she said. ‘When you lose someone, you don’t want to be alone. You want to find that one person; and we have all found that person here today.’
When her son first told her that he was an addict, Johnson said she reached out to Gee Vigna in Missouri who lost her own daughter to heroin.
Johnson said Gee and Vance Vigna’s 20-year-old daughter, Nicky, was pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication at the University of Missouri-Kansas City at the time of her death.
In memory of their daughter, the Vignas began the non-profit organization, Walking for Wellness and the website www.stopheroin.org, to bring support and awareness to those across the country.
‘Our main purpose of this walk is to walk in memory of Nicky,’ Johnson said. ‘But we are also here to support everyone and anyone who is fighting this disease.’
Steve Sliman, 44, of Middleburg Heights knows all too well the effect heroin use has on a person and their family.
Sliman, an addict for 17 years who has been clean since 2000, buried his 25-year-old son Steve Burke on July 24.
‘I just woke up one day and said ‘enough is enough,” Sliman said of his own addiction. ‘I’ve lost friends and family to heroin, and I’m done.’
Sliman’s son died from a heroin overdose and his burial was held until family members could come in from out of town, he said.
‘We had to wait 15 days to bury him, because my sister was in Hawaii,’ he added. ‘It was the longest two weeks of my life.’
Sliman said his son battled addiction for four years before he succumbed to the disease. On-and-off stints in rehabilitation centers kept his son clean for brief periods, but hanging with friends who also were users drew him back into a life of heroin use.
With his untimely death, Burke leaves behind a 4-year-old daughter, Liana Kay, who Sliman says he will do his best to raise for his son.
‘Now I have to be the best daddy a grandfather can
be.’
