'Reality Tour' shows teen's fall into spiral to death

For Ray Kollar, the "Reality Tour" drama about the effects of illegal drug use was all too real.

Kollar, whose 22-year-old son, Jake, died in 2005 from a heroin overdose, portrayed the father of "Mike," who also dies of a heroin overdose in the drama presented Tuesday at the Westmoreland County Courthouse in Greensburg.

The series of scenes depicts the life of a drug user from first buy, to first arrest, to overdose and death. Spectators moved from one area of the courthouse to another as they watched the life of a drug addict unfold.

When asked, Kollar, 50, of Hempfield Township, said he quickly decided to be involved in the drama. A similar enactment will be held Feb. 27 at the courthouse.

"It's good for the parents to see what's going on, and for the kids to see what's going on," Kollar said. "I just don't want to see these kids die today."

Norma Norris, executive director of CANDLE Inc., a Butler-based group that organizes the Reality Tour, said she had the same hope when she and others began putting on the drama in July 2003.

"Too many of our kids are dying of drug overdoses, and I felt we had to do something," she said. "I wanted them to realize that the consequences are real, and to involve the parents."

Last night's presentation included volunteers from county drug counseling groups and Excela Health.

The presentation began with a get-together of three teens. They discuss a party at which there will be drugs.

At one point, the teen throwing the party tells the others to bring at least five other friends along -- or there will be consequences.

"If you don't," the party girl said, "you're not going to be hanging out with me and my friends anymore."

Next comes the arrest in the lower-level garage. Spectators watch as a sheriff's deputy has a man pressed against a patrol car. Drug items have been found.

Then, shortly before he heads to a holding cell at the courthouse, Mike's voice is played via a boom box.

"I'm just like you," he said at one point. "This wasn't going to happen to me."

But it did -- and now he knows the sickness will come; he won't be able to get the drug to which he is addicted.

"Somebody said snorting it was OK. 'You won't get addicted by snorting it,'" Mike recalled. "I found out too late that person was looking for a new customer."

The door to the cell banged shut, and the tour moves to an emergency room staffed by Excela Health personnel. Mike described his surroundings, but he can't wake up.

He sees "tubes, needles -- not the kind of needles I'm used to."

Then he hears, "'He's not making it.'"

"What do they mean, 'Not making it?'" Mike said to himself. "I'm only 18 years old."

His parents are in the emergency room.

"He just got out of jail. He's clean. ... He's done with that," said his mother.

Kollar stands at the foot end of the bed, his head is bowed. And after 45 minutes on the emergency room table, Mike is declared dead.

The tour switches to the funeral home, where well-wishers face Mike's mom and dad.

Kollar said his own son became hooked on heroin through friends. He's since forgiven them, he said.

"It's not that you blame them," Kollar said. "They got hooked up by somebody, too. They are still good boys. They just need help."

Kollar, who attended the series of skits with his wife, son and daughter, said drug abuse knows no economic or social barrier.

"It's an epidemic," he said. "It's worse than AIDS, I think. I really do. People need to do more. The kids are dying from it."

He also offered advice to parents.

"If your kids are on it, don't be afraid to get help, don't try to hide it like we did. We didn't know what to do."

Because the reality of drug abuse, Kollar said, is harsh: "I miss my son very dearly. I wish he was back here."