Zack's March:
Zack was born on Tuesday, March 22, 1994. He was a delightfully active, curious, and loving little boy. From infancy, his brain was just like his body - always thinking and on the move, with a high 5 or a hug, and a huge smile as he ran by.

Throughout his life, he never met a stranger. Ever. From the time he could crawl, the higher he could climb the better. Once he could walk, psssh, forget it he was gone in a flash!

A deep and critical thinker, Zack always questioned the "how" and "why" of everything. When he was a youngster, the answers were much easier - where is heaven, how do mommy and daddy's kisses make boo-boos better, are monsters real, why isn't the sky yellow like the sun, how are hot dogs made, do those brown cows make the chocolate milk? As he grew into a teenager and throughout his short adulthood, the questions became far more difficult for anyone to answer, including us.

Starting school presented a new set of challenges for Zack. Within his first few months of kindergarten, he was diagnosed with ADHD & prescribed medication. During that same time, Hurricane Floyd hit NC, destroying our home & everything in it. We were evacuated at 5:00 am, by fire and rescue boats. It was a total loss, everything we owned, gone. Later as an adult, Zack said he didn't remember feeling singled out or inferior prior to then, but he did after that year. He said for a long time he had hoped for a teacher like the one he had in Kindergarten (he adored her), but he didn't feel liked, accepted, or even understood by his teachers, rarely if ever.

Throughout Zack's childhood, he was active. He loved hot dogs, Bojangles chicken, music, and history. He played video games, sports, and other activities, and always had many friends. Again lol, Zack never met a stranger, ever. He struggled with sleep disorders most of his childhood and because his weight fluctuated through puberty, we later found out he was bullied in the last part of 6th & first part of 7th grade, but even that had leveled off by the end of middle school.

In high school, Zack often seemed to gravitate to those less fortunate than him. 100% of the time, he sided with the underdog, whoever or whatever that may be. Sometime around the age of 12-13, he got his first taste of narcotics (oxycodone), after he had an ankle fracture. Within weeks of recovering from his ankle injury, he began experimenting with other substances such as tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and finally heroin. 

The day he turned 18, he decided he would never take another pill for ADHD. Within a few months, he dropped out of high school and began a slow, uncontrollable downward spiral. Handsome, Intelligent, and Hilariously funny, he was. Self-confident, he was not, although very few ever saw that side of Zack. 

In January of 2014, (Zack was 19), we first learned of his addiction to heroin, along with a dual diagnosis of bipolar & manic depression.

For 7 years, Zack received many different types of treatment for substance abuse & mental health illness, at multiple rehabilitation centers/facilities in multiple states, including NC, VA, and FL. We traveled to every single one, at least once during his treatment, but most we visited on multiple occasions.

Zack lived his most fulfilling, and healthiest adult life, after completing and graduating from his first, full 30-day inpatient treatment program, on October 23, 2019. He was 25 yrs old.
He then went on to successfully complete an 8-week intensive outpatient treatment program and finally, to an independent outpatient treatment program in December 2019, in Greensboro, NC.

He would attend 3-5 recovery meetings in Greensboro NC daily (7 days a week, every week), providing transportation, food & any other needs he himself could provide, to help those struggling with drug addiction. While working his active recovery plan, he continued living in an Oxford house with 3-4 other men who were also in different stages of recovery. He said he was respected & accepted just as he was, by a very loving, encouraging &  supportive circle of friends, also in active recovery. He often talked about what he'd been up to, or what he was planning to do with his Greensboro family when he came home for a day or a weekend visit. 

It's important to note, the primary reason Zack didn't complete a 30-day inpatient program prior to October 2019, was solely due to our health insurance company. Our insurance company denied further referrals & claims filed by the doctors treating Zack, after only 10 days of treatment. 

Think about that for a minute...every referral they were sent for Zack, from doctors & therapists at 6 substance abuse/dual disorder rehabilitation centers in 3 states, over his long 7-year struggle with drug addiction. Being denied additional insurance coverage after only 10 days of treatment in a 30-day treatment program? Yes, you are correct. Every single one, including the last one filed on October 10, 2019.

Can you even imagine being denied 2/3 of your doctor visits, 2/3 of a prescription, or 2/3 of your cancer treatments, by your insurance company? It happened to Zack, over and over again. It happens to hundreds of thousands, battling addiction or substance abuse, every day.

Battling any addiction every single day is hard enough, without the financial hardship created by the insurance companies. Because addiction never sleeps - like cancer, diabetes, or any other illness until you treat it. Insurance companies should be responsible for covering ALL claims for substance abuse, drug addiction, and dual disorder treatment, not 1/3 of a treatment protocol. Why? Just look around your state, city, community, school district, neighborhood, possibly even down your street, or maybe even your next-door neighbor. Drug addiction is everywhere. We lose more people to an accidental overdose in NC, than we do to driving or automobile accidents. This is. Unacceptable.

It is our belief that had our insurance company listened to the doctors & staff treating Zack every day in 2014, 2015, 2018, or 2019, instead of those on their payroll who had never even spoken with Zack and allowed him to complete just ONE 30-day inpatient program through graduation, who knows what he would've been able to accomplish. We will always wonder what Zack might have become, had we gotten him into Fellowship Hall sooner or had our insurance company allowed him to complete a 30-day inpatient program earlier in his life.

This is the primary reason we as Zack's family, created the "I March On" Foundation. It is our hope to continue Zack's message of hope through recovery, education & awareness, for millions battling drug addiction daily. We MARCH ON every day in memory of Zack, and in honor of approximately 21+ million others, to help bridge the gap between addiction and recovery. When a loved one or their family has exhausted all other options or financial means and is no longer able to fund the remaining 20 days + of treatment that many insurance companies fail to provide, we hope to help Fellowship Hall and other recovery treatment centers in our area cover the remaining expenses, as well as other needs requiring financial assistance while in active recovery, through Zack's message of hope and the I March On Foundation. 

Our goal is to provide hope, through financial assistance, education & awareness, to those struggling with drug addiction in active recovery, for generations to come.