Phil Lahey, a voice for addiction awareness and prevention, dies at 76 (2024)

METHUEN — Speaking from his bed in the Holy Family Hospital intensive care unit, Phil Lahey made one more impassioned plea on behalf of the cause of opioid awareness, prevention and recovery just hours before he died Monday night.

“My main goal was always to educate, to warn people it could happen to anybody,” said Lahey, 76, who founded the Merrimack Valley Prevention and Substance Abuse Project.

He wanted people to know that addiction doesn’t discriminate between the wealthy and the poor, different races or any other line drawn between people. And he believed recovery is a group endeavor – especially among loved ones.

“It’s all about family,” he said.

For years, Lahey recounted the story of his daughter’s nearly fatal heroin addiction, both as a warning to other families and to inspire people into action. The Laheys were a middle class family when Colleen’s struggles – like trying to fit in at school – cascaded into her years-long addiction.

Surrounded by his family, including his wife, Fran, and daughter, Colleen, among others, Lahey was presented with a citation from Gov. Maura Healey in recognition of his multiple decades of work for the cause. Fellow advocate Doug Griffin of Newton, N.H., who lost his daughter, Courtney, to an overdose in 2014, presented the citation in Lahey’s hospital room.

His family looked on proudly, and tearfully, as Lahey listened as it was read.

More than a decade ago and only a few years after Colleen got clean he started “The Empty Chair,” a show exploring the topic of addiction, on Methuen Community Television. He collaborated with Colleen in its production.

On the show an empty chair represented those lost to addiction who didn’t know recovery was possible. The father and daughter would talk to guests and share their story openly.

Along with the show, Lahey, a former Methuen city councilor, has been an ever-present face at public outreach events and fundraisers. He founded both the Merrimack Valley Prevention and Substance Abuse Project, or MVPASAP, and Circle of Hope, a support group for families struggling with a loved one’s addiction – or grieving their loss. He said it was there that he learned how to better help grieving people, along with those in the throes of addiction.

When a newspaper obituary identified a person as having succumbed to an overdose, he was known to contact them and bring them into the fold of his recovery organizations, and to be a friend.

“When I saw an obituary that said the truth I would try to reach out to them,” he said, adding that they often responded with gratitude.

He spoke at schools and organizations like the Rotary Club about his personal story and the importance of raising awareness of addiction to promote prevention, rather than being a predominantly reactive society. He manned a booth on Methuen Day to enlighten people.

Colleen used heroin for eight years, stole money from her family to support her addiction, and attempted to end her life before finally getting clean.

She said she never objected to her father telling her story – that he had the right.

“We went through it together,” she said.

Individual conversations were an important part of Lahey’s outreach strategy.

“I like the one-to-one contact,” he said. “I think I can talk anyone into anything and I like to do it with a little humor.”

He also took a practical approach when talking to younger people about substance abuse.

“I ask them, ‘what’s the hurry?’” he said. “I never say, ‘Never take a drink.’”

MVPASAP focuses on outreach and education, and that’s what Lahey believed is the most important aspect of battling the opioid epidemic that has taken millions of Americans’ lives.

The group connects people to an array of resources. A banner across its website reads, “End the Stigma of Addiction.”

In 2014, Jonathan Blodgett, then the Essex County district attorney, declared the opioid crisis to be an epidemic, which at the time was driven by heroin. It has since been overshadowed by the far stronger opioid, fentanyl.

Lahey said there is still work to be done.

“Those families that haven’t been affected need to know,” he said.

A video posted to his Facebook page earlier this month drew thousands of likes and hundreds of comments.

“I am going to be leaving this good earth on a high note and I know it sounds kind of crazy,” he said in the seven-minute video.

He asked people to continue to support the work of his organizations.

“I guarantee once you get involved you are going to get back more than you give,” he said.

He also announced that his wife, Fran, would be taking charge of the Circle of Hope. Current Executive Director of the Board of Directors Cole Welch will take over MVPASAP.

“More people need to know about it and know that more help is available,” Fran said.

Methuen Mayor Neil Perry said Lahey made a difference in “so many” lives.

“He was a tireless advocate for the addiction community, taking a personal tragedy and transforming it into his mission,” Perry said. “Methuen is fortunate to have Phil’s legacy, which will carry on in his name.”

Lahey noted, “Methuen is my town.”

His focus wasn’t just Methuen though, but every story of an overdose or of someone beating their addiction. His work spanned the Massachusetts Merrimack Valley, New Hampshire, and beyond when he was called upon.

“I like the good stories, too,” he added.

Alongside her memories of hosting “The Empty Chair” with her father, Colleen holds another one tightly.

“I would bring my dog over to his house on Sundays and we would sit outside,” she said, noting that they lived about five minutes apart. “It’s just the little things.”

“I think you should try to get something good out of anything negative that happens,” said Colleen, who has been clean since 2008. “Remembering and using it to your advantage to help others.”

Griffin said he was glad he had the opportunity to be Lahey’s friend and that it was clear that people listened to him.

Hours after his wife and others announced Phil’s passing on Facebook, hundreds of well wishes and kind words had already filled the comments sections with hearts, prayers and admiration for his work.

More information about Lahey’s services will be forthcoming. More on about MVPASAP can be found at .

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