To get food with friends and never came back. Recovery is possible and keep hope. Tell somebody, come forth, its not anything to be ashamed of. Chris christie, kids are dying. Hope keeps us alive. We cannot continue to lose our kids. Rob chasing the euphoria when they first got high. The heroin epidemic seems out of control spike since 2010, the number of people addicted and suffering. In new jersey, its particularly troubliling as the deaths are three times the national average. This is what you see in the headlines, but this is reality. Were bringing you tonight a very special edition of chasing news. Were chasing the outofcontrol heroin and opioid addiction crisis in america and the families and the people that it impacts every day. The stories and the subject matter may make you uncomfortable. Theyre not easy to digest. But you cant simply look the other way anymore, addiction is everywhere you turn. I sat in the living rooms, seen the tears, seen the pain on loved ones faces. I breathe so hard, as hard as i could to make him breathe. I couldnt. Id like to introduce to you t. J. Walsh, when we first brought t. J. To you, he was homeless, heroin addicted and begging for money it feed his addiction. Were on a journey today to save one life if we can, not going to be easy but assembled the team. The first with us is great friend of the show, jay lasater. I hope today is the day for t. J. , i hope we can get in there and make magic and convince him this is the right thing to do, but, like, hes were never rational. If hes got a lot of heroin on him, hes probably not going to come. Right. Were going to meet christie walsh, going to meet her mother who hasnt spoken to her son in a few years. Today, family in here, they lost their son, brother, nephew, just down the street under the ben franklin bridge. Homeless, college graduate, great kid. I can relate. Were going to go save him. When did you guys first see a change in your brother . A change . A long time ago. I would say right after he graduated college, actually. A little more distant and isolated. From there, up until this point, hes very smart. What did he start using . When did he start using . How fast did that get out of hand . I couldnt tell you how fast because he kept it secret very, very well. There were a lot of lies, it was pills, percoset. It was oxy, and when he was arrested in my kitchen in june of 2015, the officers let me know its heroin. Wow. And i was floored. I had not a clue. Im kind of thinking that the approach might be the present. I think four of us should try to track him down,ing and the sight of the family members that he hasnt seen in quite a long time will spark some emotion. This is where t. J. Would spend a lot of his time panhandling over there. People at the ben franklin bridge. Weve got the whole team. Were going to security area. Around here . Yeah. T. J. Used to sleep here is what this fella told us. He recognized him. As far as he knows, hes sleeping where the tow trucks are. [laughter] how are you . A good way, in a good way. Im so sorry. I locked up because i miss aid court date. I cant believe i just ran into you. [laughter]. How many days clean . Today is seven. Congratulations, man. When is the last day you had seven days clean . Been a long time. Thats great. Really long. What are you doing right now . Want food . Want to eat . All right, awesome, dude. No, no, definitely not. You know, in the past, Substance Abuse has been a big part of your life, and you know, life may not have worked out the way everyone thought, and i work for a Company Called ambrosia treatment centers, its a really amazing program, and what were looking to do is offer you a full scholarship to go our program for full 30 days, free of charge, and want to set you up with housing after that and continued treatment and obviously were going to offer support of your family. When can i leave . Right now. Right now . Right now. Before you guys pulled in. I was talking to bill for the last 20 minutes and i said i cant believe that my family hasnt come, like, i said i know what this is, i dont want them to see me until i shave. I like to see you just like this. I know its my family. I hope thats what it is. Hes like what are you going do . Im like dude, im [ bleep ] going, im done with this. I cant do it. When i heard you guys were out looking for me, it kind of scared me. Deep down inside, i knew it was a godsend, i knew what it was, and i knew they would accept whatever you were offering. I need to get clean. How are you doing . Good. Happy. So the big question is, how is he doing now. Ive been in close contact with t. J. s family. Hes out of rehab. He hasnt been himself for a couple years, hes trying to find himself and working on it on his own. Not everybody has a van to track him down in the streets. Is there hope among the people and the families . Thats the interesting thing. When i was looking for t. J. , i spoke to people who were heroin addicted and a lot said man, i wish they were looking for me. It made the journey a little stronger with his family and i. As for the other families, a lot of them have experienced loss already, lost the loved one that they had. They all wanted to do things differently, but not much that you can do. Yeah, i mean, we did everything. Came down to him. Theres nothing we could have done differently. Its an everyday battle. Everyday battle. This is he was placed in a sober living house. We made the blessing bags. How long you been in . Three weeks. How do you like it . Love it, man, i love it. This family sitting in the living room taught me everything i needed to know about heroin. Steven lost his life after he overdosed in his mothers home. He did not get to witness the birth of his son who is now named steven, in his honor. The past few years have been tough on the family. Bill and tammys son, steven was struggling heavily with heroin. A good man with demons pumping through his veins. Steven was living with his parents to get better for his girlfriend elizabeth and two beautiful daughters. His girlfriend is pregnant with the third child. He was Getting Better but things took a tragic turn. The whole family planned to go out for easter egg hunt. I thought he had a tissue in his nose. It was white foam. I said come on, babe, we got to go, well miss the easter egg hunt. I said bill, i think hes dead. My husband and i pulled him to the floor. I breathed so hard to make him breathe. I couldnt. I wanted to but i couldnt have it. I didnt have what it took to bring my son. Reporter steven was dead from heroin overdose. Elizabeth herself has struggled with addiction but since came clean. Its an everyday battle, every day battle, thank god im in a program today because i dont know where id be today. Im sober and here for my family today. Reporter donny conklin is stevens cousin but more like a brother. His father died from a heroin overdose 22 years ago. Hes struggling with heroin addiction, too. After steven died, he stopped and looking for help. This opened my eyes, i would have never got clean. Like ive tried, like i wanted to, and ive been doing it [ bleep ] to not be sick, you know . Like the devil. Reporter one thing thats keeping the family together is they will not let stevens death be in vain. They made it lifes mission. We want to impact lives, tell stevens story, we want to sit in front of lawmakers, were here to make a change. He is. Good to see you, too. This place is beautiful. This is sober living house. Each bedroom holds two guys, we have one bedroom that does sleep one. Everything that you see. Guys try to get out as often as they can. All the stuff is donated. The bags with we make the blessing bags. How long you been in the house for . Three weeks. Almost a month now. How are you liking it . Love it. Love it, man. Were all a tightknit group. We all get along and help each other with each others recovery. Look at that. Perfect. Thats perfect. Yeah, i mean, we did everything. It came down to him. Theres nothing we could have done differently. New jersey boasts about shore towns, many turn a blind eye that ocean county is deadliest county. Two counties alone account for over 300 people that have died from heroin overdoses since the beginning of this year. I met a family, im in their living room right now. Thats dealing with the heavy loss of brother and son, 29yearold christopher cox, whose life spiraled downward until his last day. Late october when he died from heroin overdose. His family was left to plan his funeral. Ever said goodbye. An act of addiction, i learned how to handle it. I tried everything from my own faith to other faiths to tough love to overlove to begging. Begging, pleading. Christopher and his little brother joseph were inseparable. They broke the law together, went in and out of rehab together. He remains clean and hard working to this very day. Its all rush, and chasing that rush, and when you realize, that can you get the same rush out of doing something productive. Christopher, however, could never escape the dark life of crime and addiction. Joseph was raw in talking about their struggles. Their connection and the death of his beloved brother who he called his best friend. His mother, two sisters, and his brother, nephew, i read a different story. Christophers brain, his mind, heart and soul, dont let them deal with the chains that his addiction had on him anymore. If you could see him, what would you say right now . Its never going to be the same. You dont go back living a normal life after losing someone that close to you. You learn how to live differently. Even when the moments come where you feel like you cant breathe, you manage to make it through the day. We teamed up with stop the heroin, we created an app for them and its going to be available to everybody soon. So were trying to get that promoted and let everybody know that there is help. I help people get into treatment now, in honor of my son. I want to say keep fighting, if youre battling addiction, you can beat it. Im nine months clean actually today. Weve got shatter this stigma. Hope is the only thing that keeps us alive and cannot continue to lose our kids. All i have to say is wake up, chris christie. Kids are dying. He was just out of a detox and was waiting for longterm care. We found him in his bedroom on a tuesday night. He fought addiction for about eight years and relapsed in september, and it was fatal. Around us, are real people that beat their addiction. Real people still in the fight, and real families living with unimaginable loss. Every single day. I help people get into treatment now, in honor of my son who just turned 20. He passed away from heroin overdose. We had great insurance and still turned away. Ive been clean since august 22nd, 2014. I want to say keep fighting. If youre battling addiction, you can beat it. Im nine months clean actually today. Its been a great road. My name is joe, wake up chris christie, kids are dying. He was in a recovery place in florida and his probation made him come back, and they found him in a park a short distance from here in trenton and he died of overdose. My name is zach, what they do is great and there is hope. Dont give up. Weve got to shatter this stigma. Hope is the only thing that keeps us alive. And cannot continue to lose our kids. He struggled in and out of rehab. Ive been in recovery since september 8th, 2007. Recovery is possible and keep the hope and tell somebody. 2 1 2 years clean and in the Ocean County Drug Court program and looking for love and life. This is right before he passed away. Come forth, its not anything to be ashamed up. Im jason rivera, together we help people get their lives straight and recovery. My name is shaun, im in recovery since september 6, 2016. When i was asked to leave detox due to lack of funding, i overdosed the same day and been in recovery since. Every day that im sober shows me that i can get through everything without picking up a drink or drug. There is nothing to be ashamed of being a drug addict. There is hope for you. Im proof there is. He wound up getting four years almost clean. Doing wonderfully. He was in florida. He went out to get food at 3 00 in the morning with friends and never came back. 12 hours later, they found him dead in his car. Im one of the lucky ones who had access to good treatment because you had good insurance. To moms and dads and loves ones fighting this fight. I struggled with addiction for many years, ive been sober since january 14th, 2011. My frustration was not only having to endure the death of my youngest son but the frustration at trying to get his phone unlocked to get information to bring the dealers to justice. My name is megan. Ive been sober since october 26, 2014 and here to show recovery is possible. My son is in recovery nine months today. Its been a tough road but there is always hope. My son passed away on january 27th. He was on heroin for five whole months. One of the worst parts about it is i couldnt get him treatment in new jersey because they said he didnt fit the criteria. Something has to change. I dont want any more kids to die. couch and tv grunting happily giggles, gasps both laughing playfully both panting, sighing grunting groaning homer wow, an indoor water park. Hopefully, this will put the final nail in the coffin of lakes and rivers. Well, as a mother, i. We all know youre a mother. As a mother, i like that wherever i look, i can see a lifeguard. Im finding nemo i saw heaven