Sisler to debut documentary on family addiction struggle

On Feb. 1, ESPN and AL.com sports reporter Lauren Sisler will premier a 20-minute documentary about the death of her parents following their battle with substance abuse and addiction.

The documentary, titled “Beyond the Shadows,” is being presented in an online free event sponsored by the Addiction Prevention Coalition and Impact Recovery Center and called ”Beyond the Sidelines: Breaking the Stigma of Addiction.”

The documentary will be aired on Sisler’s website and as a Facebook Live event at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 1, and will be followed with a live discussion between Sisler and Dr. Stephen Taylor, medical director of the NBA Player Assistance/Anti-Drug Program and chief medical officer for the Behavioral Health Division at Pathway Healthcare.

The goal is to help break the stigma of addiction, look at what can be done to prevent it, and give people resources to combat it once they or a loved one already are struggling with it, said Sisler, who serves on the board of directors for the Addiction Prevention Coalition.

Sisler’s parents both died unexpectedly of a fentanyl overdose within hours of each other in March 2003 when she was an 18-year-old freshman at Rutgers University. Both her parents had been dealing with chronic pain — her father from his service in the Navy and her mother from a degenerative disc disease.

Doctors had prescribed them a variety of drugs to deal with pain and depression that over the course of several years led to addiction and ultimately their deaths with an overdose, Sisler said.

She was devastated, and for a long time ashamed, but now is excited about the opportunity to use her story to impact and hopefully help save other people’s lives, she said.

Eighteen years later, in 2021, people continue to struggle with addiction, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only heightened people’s struggles with isolation, substance abuse problems, suicidal thoughts and mental illness, said Sisler, now 36.

She started working on the documentary about two years ago, put it on hold for a while, restarted the effort at the urging of a mentor and is now ready to share it, she said.

While the documentary itself lasts 20 minutes, the entire Feb. 1 event should last about an hour and will be moderated by JOX 94.5 FM’s Jim Dunaway, Sisler said. They hope to leave time to answer live questions submitted via Facebook chat, she said.

Sisler and the Addiction Prevention Coalition hope to replicate the live event in targeted markets, such as Virginia (where Sisler grew up), Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.

Sisler said she also eventually plans to set up a scholarship fund to help further the education of people whose lives have been impacted by addiction — either their own or a loved one’s addiction. She wants people to realize they can still have a bright future, she said.

To register for the Feb. 1 live event, go to laurensisler.com/sidelines or facebook.com/events/418988169439448.