LYNN — Before speaking in any auditorium, Chris Herren shares a prayer.
He asks God to help him reach at least one kid in the audiences he talks to across the country, because if he can prevent one kid from making the mistakes he has, his talks are a success.
Herren grew up in Fall River, where he quickly became a basketball standout. At Durfee High School his teams drew crowds of thousands and he was selected as a McDonald’s All-American. Herren went on to play at Boston College, but failed drug tests and a battle with addiction to drugs and alcohol sent his career and life on a downward spiral that included four overdoses.
Now, Herren, who played in the NBA for the Denver Nuggets and Boston Celtics with other professional ventures along the way, is 12 years in recovery and has dedicated himself to helping others battle addiction and get on the road to recovery.
One of the ways he has done so is by speaking to millions of kids in high schools over the years, including in front of St. Mary’s students at Tony Conigliaro Gymnasium Thursday.
“At Durfee, the place would be rocking and I’d be playing in front of 4,000 people,” Herren, 44, said. “But after the game I couldn’t hang out with five of my best friends without getting high. Think of the madness in that. I could score buckets in front of 4,000 but I couldn’t hangout without five best friends before getting drunk or high on Fridays.”
Herren stressed to the crowd of students that he was once in their shoes, getting the same talk, and thinking that addiction could never happen to him. But of course it did, and it’s something him and his loved ones, including his three children, paid dearly for.
“The hardest part about my recovery is the memories of those moments that I will never ever shake,” Herren said. “But the greatest accomplishment of my life is that for the past 12 years I’ve been the same dad. For someone who shot up heroin every day, it feels really good to be the same dad for 12 straight years. It feels really good to walk into my house, look my children in the eyes and they know me.”
While taking questions from students, Herren stressed through first-hand accounts the negative effects that drugs can have on adolescents
“There’s kids in here right now that on Friday night, alcohol, it’s just not good with you,” Herren said. “It changes you. Your friends watch it. Some of you it makes you angry, others emotional. And they’re watching it happen right in front of your eyes.
“The scariest thing for me to see as an owner of a wellness center, is marijuana psychosis by far,” Herren said. “I have three young adults in my center right now suffering from marijuana psychosis. It is horrible to see how crippling that psychosis and the state it puts them in. They all went to college and came back with marijuanna psychosis. They’ve never done another drug in their life.”
Some students asked Herren the best ways to help and manage a family member or friend with addiction. Herren, whose own father has suffered from alcohol addiction his entire life, knows how hard that can be but shared some of his own methods.
“I write letters to my dad and I put them in his apartment,” Herren said. “You can’t argue with a letter. It’s hard to yell at a letter. It’s tough to defend yourself to yourself. But again, I will always, always push for the people who I love who are suffering from this illness to get the proper care so they don’t have to live like this anymore.”
Herren left St. Mary’s encouraging each student to keep sharing their stories of how addiction has affected them and, of course, hoping his talk helped change at least one life for the better.
“To the kids in here who raised their hand (to talk), keep raising it. I admire your strength and courage,” he said. “To the kids in here who were afraid to raise their hand, please don’t ever be afraid to tell someone your story. And to the kids in here who were wiping away tears, talk about those tears.”
