2018 Overdose Awareness Walk

This was our 2nd year volunteering at the Overdose Awareness Walk my cousin Christine put together. What a turnout this was. It’s estimated 10,000 people attended!

This walk was created to keep her brother, Chuck Cocker’s, spirit alive. Here is her story:

“My name is Christine Cocker and this is our story!!

I lost my brother Chuck on January 4th 2014 to a heroin overdose. My brother spent all of his late teens and all of his 20’s in and out of jail and rehab. He was 31 when the police found him in a wooded area on the side of a road in Philly in the snow.

The last time I talked to him was New Years Eve, he was in rehab, we talked for a few about his upcoming stay at a Recovery House in Arizona called Good Life Recovery. I spoke with the owner, he spoke with the owner, it was almost a done deal. All we had to do was get him there.

Chuck was on probation and wanted to run everything by his PO, first to do it the right way. I asked him not to and that he could take care of that stuff when he came home in a couple years CLEAN, and he would have had a better mindset. He didn’t want to, he wanted to do it the “right way” He talked to his PO on December 22nd or 23 and his PO said that it could be arranged, there would be a fee involved for transferring to another state, then he went on vacation until January 6th.
We contacted the probation office and tried to get an emergency call to the PO because Chuck was being released on December 29th.

We never heard from his PO, so Chuck asked for a one week extension which would have taken him to January 6th. The rehab did not approve a 7 day extension, they only gave him a 3 day extension, and he was released on January 2nd. I never heard from him after December 31st. I never would have thought that it would be the last time I would talk to him. He was found dead 2 days later, we didn’t even know that he was discharged from the rehab.

Chuck was a great person who always helped others. This is our way of letting him continue to help others.”