SUSSEX, Wis. — About 25 years ago, Chris Farley died of an overdose, leaving his brother Tom Farley feeling lost.
“I learned on CNN, I just happened to be watching CNN that day and learned that my brother had died of an overdose,” said Tom Farley.
Tom Farley and his family knew that Chris was struggling with substance abuse disorder, but they never thought it would end up taking his life.
“You know you never think of how it could end, so when finally it did, it took me and all of the family by surprise,” said Tom Farley.
Since Chris Farley’s death in 1997, the number of people who have died from overdoses has drastically increased.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of people who died from a drug overdose in 2021 was over six times the amount in 1999.
Following his brother’s death, Tom Farley has spent most of his life advocating for change. He’s also been teaching others about the dangers of drug use.
“You kind of struggle to find what your voice is, what your message is and for the longest time, I was all over the map,” said Tom Farley.
It wasn’t until recently that he was able to find a healthy way to deal with his brother’s death.
It’s something that Caden Rachwal is still learning to do, too.
“My brother Logan struggled with addiction, and we ended up getting a text on Valentine’s Day in 2021,” said Caden Rachwal. “We found out he had died of fentanyl poisoning, and that’s kind of when things just switched.”
After losing Logan, the Rachwal family started doing the same thing Tom Farley is doing: teaching others about the dangers of drug use, particularly the dangers of fentanyl.
“My mom and dad created the Love, Logan Foundation, which they created a golf outing to create awareness for fentanyl poisoning,” said Caden Rachwal.
Tom Farley and Caden Rachwal participated in the golf outing, which took place on Aug. 21 at the Fairways of Woodside Golf Course.
While Caden Rachwal’s parents deal with the loss of their son by spreading awareness, he’s remembering Logan in his own way.
“I had always wanted to get matching tattoos with him, so he had the rose on his hand, so I got the rose,” said Caden Rachwal.
In addition to the rose tattoo on his forearm, he has an overdose awareness ribbon in Logan’s handwriting and a hawk’s wing on his calf.
“The hawk is a symbol of strength and one of the things I think about with Logan is every time we see a hawk, it’s a message from him,” said Caden Rachwal.
On days that are tough, Caden Rachwal finds himself still talking to his brother.
“If I have something going on in my life or I am having a hard day or need advice, I know he’s not going to respond but just texting him like I would have when he was still alive, I think that’s the biggest help to me,” said Caden Rachwal.
Every fight is different. Tom Farley said he spent many years blaming himself and others for his brother’s death until he found out the only way to heal was to move forward.
“Focusing on the past doesn’t change anything, but you can change yourself and how you deal with it. You can’t change all those other factors. Those are done,” said Tom Farley.
While Tom Farley and Caden Rachwal may never fully recover from losing their siblings, they said they plan to spend the rest of their lives advocating for change and inspiring others around them to think twice before doing any drugs.
It comes amid an increasing number of prescription pills and drugs found on the street that are laced with fentanyl. According to the Department of Justice, six out of ten of the pills they analyzed in 2022 contained a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance-use disorder, you can call 211 or 833-944-4673 to find out about more substance-use services in your community.
