My Friend Drew
If the post looks too long to read, just check out this YouCaring page and give if you can, share if you can’t. The more people who see this, the better.
Do you have a childhood friend whom you haven’t seen in forever, but they still count as a friend because you couldn’t ever call them anything less? I have one of those. His name is Drew and he’s in trouble. Drew was a good friend of my brother’s growing up. He lived just up the field from us and we spent a lot of time sledding in his back yard and hanging out between the line of pines and the dirt hill that formed a natural fort at the end of the field. We had adventures and played games and went ice skating together. He was like another brother for us.
But, as is the way with friends from your childhood, some of them drop off. We moved, then they moved and I went to Lincoln Park and lost track of Drew after a while. I would hear about him dating someone, sometimes. His parents own a coffee and tea shop in New Brighton so we would see his mom and hear about him from time to time. He always kind of floated in my field of awareness just enough to be ever present, but not actually part of my life. So I knew when he started getting into drugs. And I wasn’t surprised, but I wasn’t concerned. Here they were low grade, not good, but not deadly, or so I thought. Then he moved to California.
The thing about drugs is they escalate, and that can happen quickly when you move away from home into a place where there’s no one to tell you to stop, only people who are going to encourage your habit, tell you it’s good to keep going and ruin your life in the process. Drew wanted to be a musician. He loves music. He left to go to college and he ended up living on the streets, unable to get a job, unable to keep clean. I followed his saga from across the country through his mom, who has been trying desperately to get through to him, to bring him home, to get him help, for years now.
A word about Kathy, Drew’s mom. She is this amazingly strong woman. She has been through so much and wanted to give up so many times through this whole ordeal, but she hasn’t; not yet, and not ever. You’ll see, in her updates on the YouCaring page they put up that she has this amazing determination and she’s going to bring Drew home, one way or another.
Drew did go to rehab, he got out of rehab and was placed in a home with other recovering addicts. He fell back, was arrested and went to jail for a while. His mom fought to get him transferred back home for parole. They were working on it with a lawyer and it looked good, until Drew was released from jail, suddenly, two weeks before Kathy and her husband, Dave, were supposed to fly out to get him, and in the middle of the night. What do you think is going to happen when you leave a drug addict alone on the streets in the middle of the night, with nowhere to go and nothing to do? He turned back to the drugs, and overdosed.
Kathy and Dave flew out as fast as they could. Drew developed pneumonia and then Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome ARDS, which has a 90% mortality rate. He’s been fighting for his life ever since. His parents are scared, and have been doing everything they possibly can to get him the help that he needs. It’s been an expensive endeavor thus far with medical bills, flight expenses and hotel costs, but beyond that, now they want to move him to Cleveland Clinic, which is the best possible place for him, but a super expensive trip, and one the insurance is refusing to pay for. While they’ve been battling the insurance company, two beds have opened up and been filled. Kathy is unwilling to miss another opening.
So here it is: here is where I ask you to give as much as you can and pray as hard as you can for God’s provision and a miracle or two. Kathy and Dave have been through hell and back trying to get their son home. Cleveland Clinic is their best hope at getting him the medical attention that he needs, getting him off the ventilator and back to life. So here’s the link to the Drew Care Fund. I’m sorry if this post was a little obnoxious, but at this time when we’re looking at all we have, it’s important to remember that there are people like Drew who have nothing. Please give if you can, pray if you can’t, and share his story wherever you can. The more people who see it and give, the better. Please consider helping them out, and remember to be thankful for what you’ve been blessed with.
‹ Days of Thankfulness: Manchester Days of Thankfulness: Geneva College ›