Nolan Gallion III ran medical calls for his local fire company and loved helping people. But behind the scenes, for two years, the young Churchville man struggled with a deadly addiction.
The last time he tried heroin, he had been clean for six months, having gone to California for rehab. On Jan. 25, at one of the Susquehanna Hose Company stations in Havre de Grace, where he had recently become a member, Mr. Gallion again decided to try the highly-addictive opiate. This time, he overdosed.
His parents, both veterans of the fire and rescue service in Harford County, worked to save him, as did his sister. They failed, and, at age 24, Nolan Gallion III became another victim of what local leaders have called an epidemic of heroin abuse in Harford County.
"They call it 'chasing the dragon,'" Sandra "Sandi" Gallion, his mother, said about the lure of the drug's high. "Once you stop chasing the dragon, the dragon starts chasing you."
The Gallions were as shocked as anyone that heroin addiction could hit their family. Sandi and Nolan Gallion Jr. met on the ambulance at Level Volunteer Fire Company, to which they and their children have devoted their lives. Sandi Gallion, the company's first woman vice president, works in a primary care office; her son was an eager member of Susquehanna Hose Company.
"My kids have been raised in this family. My daughters served in this fire company because that's the way I raised my children. You don't give 50 percent; you don't give 75 percent. You give 100 percent, because that's what this community deserves," Sandi Gallion, her voice breaking, told her fellow fire and EMS service members at Level's annual banquet Saturday night, when she was honored with the Charlotte Gallion Memorial Award, the President's Award and induction into the Harford-Cecil Hall of Fame.
"I know you had a rough year, and to represent Charlotte [Gallion], the Gallion family and Level, you couldn't pick a better person," Harford County Executive Barry Glassman told Gallion after she had received her awards. The Charlotte Gallion Memorial Award is named in honor of Sandi Gallion's late mother-in-law.
Glassman, a longtime Level VFC member and friend of the Gallions, made Nolan Gallion III the public face of Harford's heroin problem in his first State of the County address last month, when he movingly mentioned his personal history with the young man and his untimely death. Glassman also used the address to announce a multi-faceted program of education and treatment and training to fight the "heroin epidemic."
Glassman told Sandi Gallion, who is also the fire company's perennial banquet coordinator: "God bless you for all you do on behalf of the county and Level."
Despite the stigma surrounding drug use, Sandi Gallion said she has been embraced by her Level VFC family.
"They have been there, they have given us time, they have given us space, they have given us support. They have been a family. They don't look different at us because our son had an addiction problem," she said.
Amid the banquet's somber tone, everyone in the room seemed to have been touched by the tragedy. Sandi Gallion was showered with flowers and hugs throughout the night. Glassman sat at her table, as did county Director of Administration Billy Boniface, whose 20-year-old son, Ben, died in a 2012 vehicle accident that was attributed to alcohol.
"Some people, when they immediately find out, they kind of turn the other cheek, and Level hasn't. They have embraced it and they have embraced us," Sandi Gallion said about her family's experience.
Jan. 25 was a turning point for the Gallions. They had rushed to the Susquehanna Hose House 2 where, according to Havre de Grace Police, their son was found unresponsive in a bathroom by another fire company member.
"We did what we did as EMTs that night. No parent should have to do that. No sister should have to do that to their brother," Sandi Gallion said. Her son, she noted, "was an awesome clinician. He was the kindest person, to the oldest, most crotchety person and the littlest, youngest person."
Sandi Gallion hopes Glassman's commitment to tackling heroin abuse will make a difference.
Regardless of opinions or beliefs about addiction, "you think differently after you experience it one on one, and it makes us, I think, more compassionate, more willing to understand the situation," Sandi Gallion said.
"The biggest thing is education. We need to educate the public, and we need to start young and we need to make people aware of what to look for: signs, symptoms," she continued, adding: "It's easy for physicians to prescribe pain medications, not knowing that addictive tendency can be there."
"We did everything as parents to educate ourselves, to educate him, get him home-tested. We knew where he was going. He had very little freedom," Sandi Gallion said. "But it takes one temptation."
"We have to have better facilities in this county, we have to have more facilities in this county, we have to have the ability to help these people, because they can be helped. But they have got to have the attention," she continued.
Level's year
Level Volunteer Fire Company answered 725 medical calls and 350 fire calls during 2014.
Rachel Itzoe was named EMS Person of the Year and Shane Sawyer was the top responder for both fire and EMS calls, with 279 fire calls and 313 EMS calls.
The other top EMS responders were: Martin Chidsey with 19 calls; Vickie Hyde, 20 calls; Ken Kertis, 23 calls; Stephanie Gallion, 31 calls; Rebekah Jewett, 32 calls; Tyler Leavens, 42 calls; Marvin C. Jackson, 45 calls; Rachel Itzoe, 56 calls; Clinton Polk, 58 calls.
The other top fire responders were: Clarence Ross with 155 calls; Martin Chidsey, 165 calls; James Martin, 169 calls; Buddy Testerman , 181 calls; Morris Wagner, 182 calls; Jimmie Hawkins, 186 calls; Daniel Hawkins, 197 calls; Russell Gallion, 238 calls; Larry Mabe, 239 calls.
Harford County Department of Emergency Services Director Edward Hopkins swore in fire and EMS officers, including Chief Daniel Hawkins, assistant chiefs Rhonda Hinch and Martin Chidsey, fire captains Clarence Ross and Clinton Polk and ambulance lieutenants Shane Sawyer and Rachel Itzoe.
Dale Burkins was sworn in as president and Sandra Gallion was sworn in as vice president. Other officers are Karen Lopes, secretary; Sharon Worthington, treasurer; and Carl Ruth, secretary/treasurer ambulance. Robert Janssen is historian and Dianna Caudill is chaplain.
Directors are James Martin Sr., Jeffrey Caudill, Ronald Thomas Jr., Jeffrey Standiford and Jack Polk Jr.