"In these difficult times, now more than ever it is important to Sharpen Each Other. 'Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.'" - Gail Box
On Wednesday, March 23, through a partnership with SWODA and the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS), Gail Box, mother of late Oklahoma University (OU) linebacker Austin Box delivered a moving presentation regarding the misuse of opioids and how it can affect others to Cordell’s fifth through twelfth grade students.
According to the Austin Box Foundation, “the CDC reports that a death from prescription drug abuse happens every 19 minutes in the United States, more than from car accidents. An informed community is the only way to slow and eventually stop this epidemic, and lead to better representation and legislation at local, state and national levels. You have an opportunity and a responsibility to keep yourself and your community safe. We must Sharpen Each Other, every single day.”
Austin was an impressive athlete, student, son, brother and friend. “My son, Austin, died of an accidental prescription drug overdose on May 19, 2011. He was a D1 athlete. He was recruited by quite a few schools when he was in high school. His first desire was to play at OU, he’d been an OU fan all of his life and they offered him a full ride scholarship,” stated Box.
When Austin was just 14 and a sophomore in high school, playing basketball, baseball and football at a high level, he suffered his first major injury; a stress fracture in his back. Box noticed that in regards to movement, Austin was acting funny. This was an injury that never healed and would evidently cause him lasting chronic pain. Through physical therapy and strengthening his core to be able to take some of the pressure off his back, Austin was able to manage the pain in a healthy way.
“He did not need any type of pain medication or anything like that and he was still able to play,” said Box. His senior year of high school at 19 years old, Austin sustained another injury during football season in the midst of the State Championships. “He hyper-extended his elbow, bending it back to a 90-degree angle. He was able to fight through the injury and wore a brace, he didn’t want to take any time off,” stated Box. “He was able to come back and lead his team to the 6A championship game.”
After graduating from Enid High School, Austin went on to play for OU as a Sooner linebacker, where he was a redshirt his first year.
Box said that was the only year that Austin was healthy. During his time at OU, Austin underwent two surgeries, a knee surgery and an elbow surgery.
“The final injury for Austin, by final I mean the last injury before his death, occurred at the beginning of the 2010 football season,” explained Box. With this injury, Austin laid in the hospital bed for three days thinking about how much his team was counting on him. It was at this time that Austin had his first taste of pain medication.
“I really feel that this is what catapulted him to addiction. I think that as he laid there thinking about his team counting on him, thinking about having to rehab again; emotionally and mentally he was just not able to face it. And when he got his first taste of an opioid, I think he thought he had found his answer and this was how he was going to cope with it. And unfortunately, I think it turned into an addiction.”
She went on to say that Austin was originally given a limited supply of prescription pain medication, but it proved insufficient. Austin found what he thought was the answer to managing the pain: self-medicating and abusing his prescription.
“My point in telling his story and telling about his injuries, I want to make it clear, it’s not to make an excuse, it’s to tell the story of someone you would not think would get caught up in addiction. The message in that is, this can happen to anyone. There is no blame here. I don’t blame the doctors in Austin’s case. It’s just simply a story of how a young man got caught up in a bad situation and turned to opioids in hopes to make a difference.”
When someone suffers a setback, that can take an emotional toll on one’s mental health. This is one of the many points that Box likes to make apparent in her presentations.
“I really believe that Austin going through all of these injuries and having to do rehab was really taking an emotional toll on his mental health. The point is how we sometimes will turn to drugs, alcohol or whatever whenever we are suffering mentally,” emphasized Box. “That’s another thing I like to make clear, to kids in particular, if you have friends that are going through this, tell someone because you can’t help yourself once you are addicted. You need help from other people.”
With Austin’s case, he felt he had so much that he didn’t have room for complaint. “He was very much a leader and people gravitated towards him because of his personality. I guess if you wanted to say someone who has everything, Austin fit that. But unfortunately, that is what kept people from really realizing, myself included, that Austin needed help.”
The presentation is to let those in audience know that there is no shame in asking for help. “If we shame people, they will not get the help that they need to get,” mentioned Box.
In today’s association there are more support groups and information to learn about addiction and recognizing the signs. There are new and developing ways to properly store and dispose of prescription drugs so that one may effectively protect those around them and avoid becoming an accidental dealer.
“If there was one thing I could go back and tell Austin it would be, ‘Austin, there is no shame in asking for help,’” said Box.
The mission of #SharpenEachOther is for people, especially younger people, to understand that addiction can happen to anyone regardless of who they are. The final message Box likes to leave the students with is this, “we can all make a difference in someone else’s life by sharpening them and by helping their emotional and mental situation. It can make all the difference in the world to that person if we could just take a second to sharpen them.”
Mr. Overton, Cordell Superintendent, stated that Mrs. Box delivered a very touching message to the students. He said that her message was very important because in society today students are [potentially] exposed to drug use through social media, friends and family.
“Within our school system we are seeing that drug use and abuse is having an effect on our students and families. Mrs. Box gave a very impactful presentation about how the use of opioids lead to negatively impacting her family. Our students were very attentive during her presentation,” said Overton.
“In these difficult times, now more than ever it is important to Sharpen Each Other. ‘Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.’” – Gail Box
Brad Overton - Cordell Schools Superintendent, Cheryl Megli - SWODA, Rosalee Hamill - ODMHSAS, Gail Box - Austin Box Foundation, Carol Binghom - SWODA, Kendra Gift - SWODA.CONTRIBUTED PHOTO