Two high school friends went down the same dangerous path with two different outcomes: one was lucky enough to make it out alive; the other was not.

Ruth*, who chose to not identify due to personal safety concerns, and Luke Ronnei became addicted to heroin as teenagers.

While Ruth struggled with addiction for years, she is now sober. A heroin overdose ended Ronnei’s life in 2016 at age 20.

Ruth has not forgotten her past struggles with substance abuse or Ronnei. Now, she works with his mother, Colleen Ronnei, to educate young people about the dangers of opioids.

“This is happening all around us — why are we not talking about it?” Colleen said. “The more we can let people know what’s going on, the less likely they will end up in my shoes.”

In the first six months of 2019, there were 248 opioid-related deaths in the Twin Cities area. This number increased 31% in the first six months of 2020, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.

Ruth’s Story

Ruth broke her foot when she was 15 years old. A doctor prescribed opioids for the pain. Soon after her first couple of doses, she began abusing the medication, taking more pills than needed for her injury.

When doctors around the Twin Cities area began to crack down on overprescribing opioids, the price of pills Ruth bought on the street rose. There seemed to only be one way for her to afford a similar high.

Heroin.

“It didn’t matter if you were in my way; I would get you out of the way,” Ruth said. “Nobody else liked me, but you couldn’t hate me more than I hated me.”

Ruth’s life soon spiraled out of control as she put herself “in really unsafe situations” by moving drugs for the Mexican Cartel and gangs around the Twin Cities area to pay for her next high.

The real danger began, though, when she first overdosed, Ruth said.

“I would like to say [overdosing] woke me up, but it didn’t. If anything, it would make me want to use again, like ‘Get me out of here, I just want to get high,’” she said.

Ruth decided it was time to reach out for help after a year of “being sick and tired of waking up sick and tired” and went to a treatment facility in Texas.

“The last week of my use, I OD’d three times and that finally scared the crap out of me,” she said.

Though in treatment, Ruth was not ready to stop using, and while there, planned to end her own life. She decided to pack her bags, buy drugs and overdose. But something happened to change her life completely.

A worker at the treatment center asked Ruth what her dreams and goals were in life. The question made Ruth pour her heart out to the worker, and she realized she wanted to stay alive to see her dreams become a reality.

“Usually, in that setting, people are so focused on ‘How did you get here? What’s your story?’” Ruth said. “She was the first person to ask ‘What are your goals? What do you want from life?’ Nobody asked me that before.”

That moment is what inspired Ruth to choose a life of sobriety, which she has maintained for the past seven years. It also played a role in Ruth’s decision to start volunteering for Colleen.

Colleen’s Story

On Jan. 7, 2016, Colleen’s worst nightmare came true when her son overdosed on heroin in their home.

Colleen’s son, Luke, died after battling his addiction for two years. In 2017, to prevent other families from facing the same grief she had, Ronnei formed Change the Outcome (CTO), a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness surrounding the opioid crisis in Minnesota.

She said the organization seeks to bring attention to the opioid crisis by visiting middle and high schools to have an “open and honest conversation about drug use” with students.

According to Minnesota records, in 2020, people between the ages 15 and 34 had 2,648 emergency room visits for opioid-involved overdoses, the greatest number of any age group.

“Kids are dying every day in the state of Minnesota, and it’s not getting better. It’s getting worse,” Colleen said.

Rather than feeling defeated by the opioid crisis, Colleen continues to support young people in their recovery from addiction while preemptively educating others about the dangers of opioids.

“I know that [CTO] is not going to stop or end the opioid epidemic, but I know it is saving kids’ lives,” Colleen said. “I know that young people are feeling more empowered to ask for help.”

Ruth decided to volunteer for Colleen at CTO after attending Luke’s funeral. At that time, Ruth was in recovery, and she joined Colleen’s panel at CTO presentations to share her story.

“Reach out because there is life to live,” Ruth said. “It’s not always easy, but it gets a lot better. My worst days sober are better than my best days using.”

Recovery Resources on Campus

The University of Minnesota offers several resources for students who may be struggling with substance abuse.

Fourth-year University students Jordyn Berg and Karena Finch are co-coordinators for Boynton Health’s Recovery on Campus (ROC). ROC is a student organization that provides a safe space for students who have struggled with addiction to talk about their experiences with one another.

“It’s really difficult to find people who are going through school but also managing sobriety,” Berg said. “It’s important to provide and to allow people to know that is out there.”

ROC’s group meetings are held in Boynton Health’s Garden Room every Friday from 4 to 5 p.m. Berg and Finch also organize events to raise awareness of the organization within the University community, Finch said.

“It’s good to show people that they’re not alone in trying to be sober on campus, that there are other people going through similar things as them, and that there’s a safe space for them to be and feel comfortable,” Finch said.

Along with ROC, the University offers a substance use assessment and health promotion consultations for students who may be struggling with addiction.