Transcripts For WPVI Nightline 20171103

Congratulations, whoo this special edition of nightline, recovery high, will be right back. Your internet deserves the 100 fiberoptic network. With fios gigabit connection, you get the Fastest Internet available with download speeds up to 940 megs. Its your last chance to get fios gigabit connection with tv and phone for 79. 99 a month online for the first year. Plus, your choice of hbo or multiroom dvr Service Included for 2 years, all with a two year agreement. And Verizon Wireless customers can stream tv on the fios mobile app, datafree. Hurry and switch now, this offer ends november 4th. Go to getfios. Com hes a husband, father, veteran. But most of all, hes a fighter. Chris brown has never been afraid to take on the big fights. Thats why he stood up to republicans and democrats alike to fight the north jersey casinos and the takeover of atlantic city. Chris brown is fighting to protect jobs in our region. A true champion for the working men and women of atlantic county. On november 7th, lets keep him fighting for us. Chris brown for state senate, hes on our side. This is a special edition of nightline. Recovery high. Dan harris reports. I just got to last a business week of not getting kicked out, not dying. If i can do that for like five days. Reporter for harry, staying alive is a goal you have to set. [ bleep ]. I feel like such a scumbag. Im harrison. I am an intravenous heroin user. Im going to get high. I dont want to use, i just cant stop, you know . You got to stop recording. Im nicole. Been doing drugs since i was like 13. I always felt like lonely and depressed. And anxious. Other than that, i never felt anything. When i say to her things like, you should be a model, she looks at me like im crazy. Its a struggle. My name is matt. Instantly i did a line of oxy. And i fell in love. And it ruined my life. Reporter harry, matt, and nicole are all students at an experimental Public High School in worcester, massachusetts, with one main entrance requirement you have to be an addict to get in. The first thing i think of when i wake up is just like, hows today going to go . Am i going to use today . I love them like my own children. I dont want to give up on a single kid. Reporter susan strong is the principal of rockdale recovery high. Im afraid theyre going to overdose. Overdose and die. Thats my greatest fear. Okay, what have we got here . Midge call urine . Reporter to remain a student you have to be clean of all drugs and alcohol. Look how clean that is reporter as americas Opioid Crisis balloons and teenagers become addicted at younger and younger ages, many people hope this model could be an answer. Grant me the serenity to accept the things i cannot change reporter nightline spent an entire year documenting these students struggle for sobriety. Did everyone hear what were doing . We are making cards for carrie. Is she coming back . Reporter theyre starting off this school year without harry. Harry relapsed and almost died on december 26th of 2015. It took two shots of narcan to revive him. Har harrys at a halfway who is in springfield. Hes kept us away so many night records we love him, we want him back. Reporter clean from heroin nearly 90 days, he is free to leave for the day to visit recovery high. My hearts beating a little fast now, i must say. You look fabulous. Harry whats up, buddy . How are you doing . Come in it will be like old times. Its bittersweet because weve had these moments with harry where hes come back and has been in treatment. Dont act like you dont see me, bro. Without notice the very next week harry could be on the street carrying 20 bags of heroin. Reporter at the end of the day, harry heads back to his Halfway House with hopes of rejoining his classmates fulltime soon. I did some pretty crazy things to get drugs. I stole money. I sold myself. How bad did your addiction get at its worst . At its worst . I end up watching my friend pass away from an overdose, and i felt responsible, because i was the one that they used the narcan on last time so i was the reason there was no more narcan. You had odd in that same space and they used narcan on you, so there was none left . Yeah. Ive been pretty depressed lately. Just been going through whatever ive been going through. Reporter after school, instead of going home to her family, nicole spends her evenings here. This is a shared apartment between every lovely person that lives here. One day there was like 15 of us. This is our home. Her parents even knew that. Shes disconnecting from her family, i worry about that. She is like a mother to me. Reporter l. J. , a former heroin addict herself, knows how precarious sobriety can be. Thats why she says shes always prepared. Narcan because you never know when people will overdose or relapse and stuff, you want to be prepared. You take the cap off and put it into the nasal, stop somebody from dying. I almost died. Doctors say i would have waited a couple more minutes, id be brain dead. Theres a batch of heroin people od and are dying on. In the thick of our disease, we dont care. Were going to go for the stuff thats taking everybody out, because thats the better high. Its friday morning. Woke up about 30 minutes ago. This thing could go [ bleep ]. Reporter matt stopped using oxycontin just two months ago. Mostly what i was escaping from is i didnt feel i belonged, i didnt feel like i fit in. Reporter hes now trying to find his footing in sobriety. I hurt a lot of people. I remember telling my dad, burstiburst ing into tears when i told him, it hurt him so bad. Reporter to help him, susan tries to find a hook. Something to distract him from the urge to use. Susan is hoping that hook is hockey. Im out there, its like a natural high. Oh, yeah, right reporter matts father, who lives in another town, comes to watch him play. He took to it. Its so awesome that matts dad came today. Thats a relationship thats really important to matt. Its my favorite thing to do is this. Play hockey. I dont know, why its just really fun. See you later. Reporter as we near the end of december, matt and all the students are dreading the holidays. Because its going into the holidays. Holidays are usually the worst in recovery. I dont know, its just really stressful to have the whole family together. Stressful. Aunty susie always making drama. Usually everyones drinking. Reporter for harry, this time is especially dangerous. He has decided to leave his Halfway House. Living back at home now. I dont get that much money at a time, so i dont get high. Hi, harry. Hey whenever harry goes back, he immediately starts using heroin. And for harry, thats a death sentence. Reporter fearful that harry is using again, susan asks him to come visit. Hey, whats happening . Reporter when she sees him, her worst fears are confirmed. You look pretty high right now. Oh my god yeah ive done a perc. Have you shot heroin yet . No. Thats a oneway road for you. Because you almost died. We might not be so lucky to have two shots of narcan to bring harry back to us. Yeah, i feel that. Yeah, so thats whats killing me. Thats whats killing alisa. We dont want it to happen again. Let us get you someplace where youre going to be safe. Harry doesnt think hes worth saving. And i cant you cant walk away from that. Whats this like for you . We cant convince harry to care about himself and believe that in ten years hes going to be amazing. Because he will be. If hes not dead. Reporter unable to get harry to go back to rehab, susan reverts to plan b. Sweetie, you can walk in here tomorrow and start school. Yeah . Yeah. You cant come high. No [ bleep ]. Will you show up tomorrow . I probably will. We would like you to. Hopefully any minute hell be in. Texted him this morning, just checking to see if hes still coming in fingers crossed. Oh, here he is. [ bleep ]. Nice to see you too. Thanks for coming in. Reporter for matt, the shock of seeing harry back in school quickly gives way to the realization that harry has relapsed. Thats my choice to leave . No, not at all. What are you using . Percs again. Dude, youre going to die. [ bleep ]. Really makes me sad about harry. Because im good friends with him. You know, he will die. 100 . I know it. And its going to [ bleep ] suck. Reporter the next day, harry is a noshow. Hi, deb, i wanted to check in. Reporter susan calls harrys mom who informs her that he wont be coming in today. Hes staying home to help work . For real . Yeah. I have to think that is an awful decision. Awful decision. He needs to be here. Its the worst decision on the planet. Reporter without being connected to his sober friends and without the close monitoring he gets at the school, they are convinced he will use heroin. Im like are you freaking kidding me . I got nothing. So angry. You know what were going to do . Focus on the kids that are here. And be positive. Because they deserve our attention. Reporter as the day ends and School Closes down for vacation, the other students cope with holiday stress by exchanging one addiction for another. Were going to save some money. Were going to buy things we dont need. Stuff we dont need. Its awesome being able to go to a store and actually be able to buy stuff. Cause i used to spend all my money on drugs. Reporter harry is coping less well. December 27th, 2016. A year ago yesterday, i actua y actually when is i overdosed. Sadly, i havent stayed clean. Been getting high every day. They dont really know that. Reporter then he drops a bomb on us. We are driving to go get high right now. Yesterday and today ive gott gotten i got high on dope. Reporter he is back to using heroin. Hey. Got to stop at a corner. We just grabbed from a guy i knew. Bag of dope. We got to turn off these lights now. Reporter in that car, harry is using heroin. The thing that nearly killed him a year ago. When we come back, three lives hang in the balance. There may be subtitles at the end of this special saying in loving memory of harrison. And my hygienist says it does but theyre not all the same. Who knew . I had no idea. So she said, look for one thats shaped like a dental tool with a round brush head. Go pro with oralb. Oralbs rounded brush head surrounds each tooth to gently remove more plaque. And unlike sonicare, oralb is the only electric toothbrush brand accepted by the American Dental Association for its effectiveness and safety. My mouth feels so clean. Ill only use an oralb. Oralb. Brush like a pro. Having mplaque psoriasise is not always easy. Its a longdistance run. 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Ask about the 1 prescribed biologic by dermatologists. Humira go. For those who know what theyre really building. Always unstoppable. A bridge shut down over politics. Their biggest triumph was a traffic jam. Chris christie and kim guadagnos failures shortchanged our future. After 8 years incomes are down, costs are up and our economy is crawling. We are better than this. Im phil murphy together well build a stronger, fairer economy that works for every new jersey family. Christie and guadagno left new jersey stuck. Im serious about moving new jersey forward. Nice to meet you sir. Joseph, im nice to meet you. U . Hows it going man . The yankees . Come on. [ laughing ] look at the smiles and the hard work that the people here are doing. Its like making mini sandwiches. Theyre no different than anyone else. They just want a job. They want respect and they want dignity. This is a nice place. Yeah. He plays basketball with lauren. Steve called, fairly frantic. You know, he had a premature baby and i think he had just been given the diagnosis that she had down syndrome. Lauren brought out the best in me. She made me a different person. Deep down in his heart he feels for people who are disadvantaged. Laurens a light in everybody eye. Shes the spark that has started the fire. The goal is to keep places like this open so all people, regardless of disability, have an opportunity for employment. See, i love you. I love you guys too. You know that. Yeah. This special edition of nightline continues. Three teenagers doing battle with addiction, trying not to become one of the estimated 33,000 people who will die of an opioid overdose this year. At least 2,000 of whom will be in massachusetts. After four months of being clean, harry has gone into fullblown relapse. Using heroin. Driving to go get high right now. High on dope. I dont feel good doing this. I just cant stop, you know . Like i dont want to use. But im talking to you right now while im high. Like why isnt my willpower Strong Enough . Its because im weak . Is it because like im not a man . You have an answer. You have a way out. But you consciously make a decision to buy more misery. To buy more pain. Thats what i do. Im still praying. I just dont know how much i believe in it right now. Reporter back at school, matt has replaced the urge to use with the urge to play. Me and my buddy zach were asked to play with a bunch of older guys. Now i have a chance to like put in everything i have into a sport. Not have to think about going home and using. How was it . It was great. Its tuesday, hockey day. Im pretty [ bleep ] depressed. Reporter and nicole, who seemed a little lost during the holidays i think she doesnt feel like she has a lot to offer. When i say to her things like, you should be a model, she looks at me like im crazy. Reporter suddenly that dream doesnt seem so crazy. I am going to virginia, 40 to 50 agents around the country are going to be there. Your goal is to become a model . Yeah. You know what . This is awesome. Reporter nicole and her mom set out on a road trip, trying to make that dream a reality. I placed first runnerup in my division. I had over 30 callbacks. Thats pretty good. Reporter but for seniors matt and nicole, a new stressor is looming on the horizon. Graduation. Im worried about not having a sense of direction. Because i feel a lot of people did that a lot for us here. I think even though theyre trying to be tough guys, theyre all terrified of what tomorrow will bring. Reporter one person who will not be at graduation, harry. Did you use today . Yeah. Reporter after he started using heroin again, harrys parents sent him into involuntary rehab. So were on our way to see harry now. He recently got out of detox. Hes at a transitional home. You pretty confident you can do it this time . If i wasnt confident, its kind of like why even try . Reporter now he can even see a future. Im doing this to become a better person for myself. I want to be able to have the wife, i want to be able to have the kids. I know thats crazy, but why does it have to be crazy . Why cant i do that . Reporter there is another future he can also see. Do you still worry people will be attending your funeral at some point . Yeah, but i want it to be a party. Reporter back at rockdale recovery high, Graduation Day has finally arrived. And the mood is quite somber. Especially for matt, who wont meet our eye. What are you nervous about . Leaving high school. I think hes really emotional about graduating. I also know that he relapsed and hes really embarrassed about that. Let me ask you a tough question. We heard that youve had a bit of a setback recently. Is that true . Um yeah, its true. I smoked weed. I felt guilty. And i was upset about it. I am sober. I had to restart. The only thing i changed was my clean date. Are you proud of yourself . Oh, yeah. Here i am, graduating. Reporter a modeling career may be in her future. I actually have an interview on my birthday. The modeling world, it could be one that has temptation in it. Does that worry you at all . This world that we live in is a huge temptation. You cant destroy yourself. Thats not going to work. Reporter nicole and matt take the walk they never thought they would. Its been a lifechanging experience, maybe even a lifesaving experience. Thank you for never giving up. Moving forward in life, this will stick with me, the fact that there is a little bit of hope and that there are actually good people. Reporter and one final rite of passage. One, two, three congratulations, whoo nice job theyre going to do it. Theyre going to be rock stars. Feel the power of theraflu expressmax. New power. To fight back theraflus powerful new formula to defeat 7 cold and flu symptoms. Fast. So you can play on. 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Your internet deserves the 100 fiberoptic network. With fios gigabit connection, you get the Fastest Internet available with download speeds up to 940 megs. Its your last chance to get fios gigabit connection with tv and phone for 79. 99 a month online for the first year. Plus, your choice of hbo or multiroom dvr Service Included for 2 years, all with a two year agreement. And Verizon Wireless customers can stream tv on the fios mobile app, datafree. Hurry and switch now, this offer ends november 4th. Go to getfios. Com why arits because sweeneysing been exposed as aeeney . Double dipping pension padder. Caught spending Campaign Money on lavish dinners and fine cigars for his pals. Investigated for being a lobbyist and a senator at the same time. Sweeney voted to raise taxes 145 times while our economy continues to struggle. South jersey is a mess, and its time to take out the trash. On november 7th, make a change. Dump sweeney. Before we go, i want to thank the team that worked so hard on tonights broadcast, including nightline producer aaron brady and nightline senior producer jeff marts. Thank you for watching abc news tonight. Were online 24 7 at abcnews. Com and our Nightline Facebook page. When i tell people i host this show, they always ask me, whats my favorite question . Well, its one i hope i get a chance to ask someone today hows it feel to win 1 million . Its time to play who wants to be a millionaire. [dramatic music] i hope i ask this guy that question in just a little bit. So do i. Welcome to the show. Are you guys ready to go today . [cheers and applause] good. Were in the middle of a great game. Im here with christian sorge, our returning contestant, whos a bit of a gambler. Took some chances in our last game and he has gambled his way to 20,000. Lots in the bank. Not bad. That puts you six questions away from 1 million. Wow. And even closer, youre just two questions away from that 50,000 threshold, so couple big stops along the way. The only downside, if there is one, no lifelines. Right. So no net. Nope. Just you and i out here. You, me, and that board. And the beard. Yes, and the beard, course. Just you, me, and beard. And 1 million. Coming to cinema this summer. [laughter] all right, lets get back to your game. You ready to go . Im ready, lets do this. Lets play who wants to be a millionaire. [dramatic musical flourish] we get back into it with a 30,000 question. Thats whats on the board