NEWS

Heroin's path of pain and a road to redemption

Andy Fitzpatrick
Battle Creek Enquirer
Ben Burke, shown in photographs kept by his parents, died of a heroin overdose in 2012.

In the Burke family home in Pennfield Township, two parents sat at a dining room table and talked about their son.

Ben Burke had died of a heroin overdose on the kitchen floor, just a few steps away, four years ago.

More and more in Calhoun County, families are either experiencing something similar to what Theresa and Rod Burke have gone through, or are coming close to it.

"There has to be some way to help people with the addiction," Rod Burke said. "I view it as a health issue. I view it as cancer. We don’t blame people for dying of cancer."

Sheriff Matt Saxton, Public Health Department Health Officer Jim Rutherford and Substance Abuse Council Executive Director Dawn Smith said earlier this month not only is heroin use on the rise, but the current supply in the area may have been cut with fentanyl or other additives that could increase the potential for overdosing and death.

Sgt. Jeff Case of the Battle Creek Police Department has been working with other law enforcement agencies in the county on the local drug problem. Case said although it's hard to get a handle on the exact numbers, there is an opioid — or pain medication — problem here.

Case said between Jan. 28 and Thursday, there have been 23 suspected heroin overdoses, three of them fatal, in Calhoun County. Including all drugs, the number jumps to 28 overdoses with four deaths in the county that Case knows about.

The actual number could be higher, Case said, because first responders may not report the cases as heroin overdoses and hospitals currently don't report them to law enforcement agencies.

"We’ve had to change our practice on the law enforcement side of how we document them," Case said. That includes, he said, long-form reports and conducting more extensive interviews to find out where the drugs are coming from.

With images of her children behind her, Theresa Burke sits with husband, Rod, as they talk their son Ben's heroin addiction. He died on the kitchen floor of their home.

Ben Burke didn't make it. A Battle Creek resident, Tina Arredondo, also became addicted to heroin. She's still here. Their stories, though, show how the drug can affect anyone regardless of income, education or luck.

Ben Burke, 28, died April 1, 2012, while his parents were away visiting family in Florida. His parents believe he committed suicide by intentionally overdosing. But whatever happened that day, he didn't fit a stereotypical narrative of what some might think a heroin user is like.

Ben was described as a shy, smart kid who was into philosophy and read a lot. His Catholic faith, shared by his family, was strong. Theresa said he would post a sign on his door when he prayed the rosary so he wouldn't be interrupted. He was close with his two sisters; one has gone on to serve in the U.S. Air Force and another works as a university professor, teaching and writing about sociology.

A drawing made by Ben Burke, who died of a heroin overdose in 2012, was found after his death.

After graduating from Pennfield High School, Rod said, Ben wasn't ready for college. He joined the U.S. Navy, partly because it was a chance to see the world. Having been an exchange student to Japan in high school and finding a love for that culture, he picked that as a duty station after being given a choice because of his high performance in the service.

But when his Navy stint was over in 2006, his parents said, he started doing drugs. It was a dangerous road to start down, and not just for the usual reasons. Theresa said there was a history of addiction and mental illness in her family, and her brother died from a drug overdose.

Ben was already struggling with anxiety and depression, she said.

"Maybe the first time he ever tried drugs or alcohol was just to ease anxiety in social situations," Rod said.

What followed were years of uncertainty for Ben's future. He would go in and out of rehabilitation centers as his and his parents' finances would allow, and spent time at the Battle Creek Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

There were also periods in which Ben would disappear and not be seen for months at a time. He ran out of money and lost a place to live. He robbed his parents, who had also ran out of resources to help their son.

Ben did find some success in rehab. His parents said the former West Michigan Addiction Consultants in Grand Rapids was helpful, as was the Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center there. In Battle Creek, he attended Alanon meetings.

Theresa said Ben really liked going to the Salvation Army; the Burkes still go there on the anniversary of Ben's death and visit with those who helped him.

The Burkes shared some of Ben's writing from his time in rehab. In one letter, he talked about the difficulty in confronting his demons in substance abuse classes.

"I'm here at SA because I am ill," Ben wrote. "I have a disease; my brain is wired to kill me."

He also wrote about his faith in God and being grateful for his parents' intervention.

"He was just the kindest drug addict," Theresa said, smiling at the weird sound of that phrase. "He really tried to protect us from the dark side and the chaos of the addiction. He would come here for a time out, if he had a weekend. He’d go to his meetings in town here."

But something started to change.

"2011, he relapsed again," Theresa said. "Lost his job. August 2011, he came to us and said, 'I’m dying.' I said, 'I know. I know.' He knew."

When Rod and Theresa started planning a trip to Florida, Ben, they said, kept asking about the details. When were they leaving? How long would they be gone?

"He asked me that so many times," Theresa said. "I just thought, 'What is up with that?' I think he was planning it at that time. I don’t know for sure."

Only Ben knows what the actual plan for that day was. But what is known is that he went to a meeting at the Salvation Army in the morning, and then drove to Battle Creek. Here, he went to an Alanon meeting and talked to his sponsor. Afterward, people who saw him said there wasn't anything out of the ordinary about his behavior, the Burkes said.

But that same day, Ben overdosed on the kitchen floor of his parents' home in a wooded neighborhood in Pennfield Township.

"I didn’t think it was an accident," Theresa said. "I think he was tired."

A letter from their son, Ben, was written to parents Theresa and Rod Burke during one of his stays in a rehabilitation facility before his death from a heroin overdose in 2012

According to the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Drug Abuse, heroin works by converting into morphine in the brain, creating a surge of pleasure when it attaches to opioid receptors.

Looking out the window at the February sky, Rod had a better explanation when describing what his son felt like when he wasn't high.

"Everything becomes a Michigan gray," Rod said.

Tina Arredondo's laugh is loud, infectious and full of life. She laughed about how she probably swears too much.

It's also a laugh that comes even amid a story about hitting bottom after years spent addicted to heroin and other substances.

Arredondo started drinking and smoking marijuana when she was 14, she said, sitting with a reporter and Smith of the Substance Abuse Council. In her 20s, she started doing cocaine. Then, after an accident left her with a prescription for pain medication, she picked up another drug.

Tina Arredondo of Battle Creek, in a story with both laughter and tears, talked about her drug addiction Wednesday.

"After they were gone I was detoxing and I wanted some drugs," Arredondo said. "So I started dibbling and dabbling with heroin, Dilaudids, stuff like that. Anything I could get my hands on."

Like Ben Burke, Arredondo's upbringing didn't fit the stereotype of a drug user, she said.

"My mom was a lab technician at Post Cereals," Arredondo said. "My dad worked for the VA. I’m not a product of my environment."

Arredondo, who had two kids, fell so far into addiction she left her family.

"I started partying all the time, shooting heroin," Arredondo said. "Going to jail for stealing. All that stuff. For like 15 years I did that. I got put in Drug Court in 2012. That’s what changed my life."

Arredondo was talking about Calhoun County Drug Court. Nonviolent offenders can be eligible for the specialty court, and if they complete the program charges against them can be dismissed.

Calhoun County's 10th District Sobriety Court, according to www.calhouncountymi.gov, has a mission of "promoting the safety and well-being of our community by recognizing alcoholism and drug dependence as a disease, drunk/drugged driving as a destructive choice, and offering a court-supervised treatment program to those is need."

Arredondo is close to completing the Drug Court program; she said she's working on getting a GED, which is required by the court.

"It isn’t even about Drug Court anymore," Arredondo said. "I have a choice today because I could’ve walked out of there at any time. I did jail time and I went to rehab, but when I got out and was in the world, I made a choice to change my life because I wasn’t that same person anymore."

But it almost didn't happen. Arredondo's story almost ended differently. Telling it, her laughter was replaced by tears.

"I felt like I wasn’t worth anything anymore," Arredondo said. "After so many years and so much devastation I had done to my family, the people around me, and my community, whether it be stealing, prostituting, whatever I did, I felt like I was better off dead."

Arredondo and the Burkes have both seen newspaper articles and television reports about the heroin problem, both here and nationally. Case of the BCPD said it's not just a local issue, it's a national one. And he said they've been fighting against it with the Calhoun County Sheriff Department, the Michigan State Police and others.

"There have been seven joint operations within the county dealing with or targeting heroin dealers, numerous arrests, and some of those may be facing federal charges," Case said of recent enforcement activity in response to the spike in overdoses.

Theresa Burke works as a Public Health Department nurse stationed at Springfield Middle School. She knows drugs pose a danger to students. She also volunteers at the Calhoun County jail, working with female inmates.

Theresa Burke spoke about the two sides of her son, Ben who died of a heroin overdose in 2012. One side was as a tender, shy, and kind young man and the other was the heroin-addicted side.

Arredondo said she works at a local detox center, putting her in contact with those who have a similar problem.

The Burkes and Arredondo balk at the accusation from some that drug addicts are getting what they deserve.

"I think if people saw how Ben was – he wasn’t perfect but he wasn’t what you might think of as a drug addict – they might be more accepting and open, and understanding," Theresa said. "Addicts are real people and these are real families that are devastated by this. It is devastating. Addiction terrorizes the family."

Rod said there needs to be a larger network of support in the area for the addicted, although he said he realizes resources can be stretched thin.

Arredondo isn't worried about being judged – "I don’t really give a damn what anybody thinks of me because of where I’ve come from," she said – but wants those who are in trouble to let someone know.

"Reach out, tell somebody, call somebody," Arredondo said. "If you’re on probation, tell your probation officer. Tell your parents so somebody can help you. I don’t feel like you can do this alone."

Contact Andy Fitzpatrick at 269-966-0697 or afitzpatrick@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter: @am_fitzpatrick

How to get help

Dawn Smith of the Substance Abuse Council recommended these ways to find help:

  • For the insured, call Psychological Consultants at 968-2811 or find providers covered by your insurance.
  • For the uninsured or those on Medicaid, call Southwest Michigan Behavioral Health at 800-781-0353. 
  • Haven of Rest Ministries' Men's Life Recovery Program can be reached at 965-1148 and the women's LRP is at 441-1701. 
  • Gracious Homes housing for women: 966-2947.
  • For more resources, contact the Substance Abuse Council at 966-7580.
  • Go to www.tcccalhoun.org to find more assistance resources online, including for drug and alcohol use and smoking cessation.