Are you a fan of Red Hot Chili Peppers?Write a letter to Anthony Kiedis

LABAS, Anthony! You're an amazing person! Red Hot Chili Peppers is an amazing group too. I'm so happy you're coming to Lithuania next summer! Best wishes! Greetings from Lithuania (LIETUVA) !

Dear Mr. Kiedis,

I hope this letter finds you well. My name is Dan, and I’m writing to express my deepest gratitude for your book *Scar Tissue*. Your story has had a profound impact on my life, and I felt compelled to share with you how much it has meant to me.

Like you, I’ve struggled with addiction from a young age. I started experimenting with drugs around 13 or 14, beginning with weed and alcohol. By the time I was 15, I had moved on to pills, mostly opiates with some amphetamines sprinkled in. At 16, I was using OxyContin full-time, but when those became hard to get after they were banned, I turned to heroin. Before I turned 17, I was injecting it intravenously. I still remember teaching myself how to inject using a YouTube video…

By 17, I was a full-fledged junkie, and my addiction was leading me down increasingly dangerous paths. I would leave school early and head into Kensington in Philly by myself to score. This went on for years until I moved to Florida in an attempt to sober us. I was 25 by this point, and I had yet another near-death experience in Florida after doing a speedball. By the grace of God, I was saved by a cop who administered 4 or 5 doses of Narcan. (This is right when fentanyl was making its way around the country)

After that incident, it left me with neuropathy, and I lost the use of my right leg, which I still can’t feel to this day.

Despite this, I managed to maintain sobriety for around three years before slipping up again with IV cocaine use. In that time, I drained all my savings, which had amounted to over $150,000 from a lawsuit I won after a head-on collision. After losing everything, I moved back to Pennsylvania to be near my family. I was hospitalized shortly after when I couldn’t catch my breath. The doctors told me that all the IV drug use had destroyed my tricuspid heart valve, and after maintaining sobriety for six months, I underwent open-heart surgery.

These past few years have been incredibly challenging, but I feel like I’ve finally gained some momentum in my recovery. Your story in *Scar Tissue* has been a source of inspiration for me during this journey. Seeing how you overcame your struggles and achieved sobriety has given me hope that I can do the same. I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your story with the world—it’s helped me more than words can express.

I know you must receive a lot of letters like this. Regardless, I want you to know that your honesty and courage have made a difference in my life.

Thank you again for everything.

Sincerely,
Dan

Was at your show in west Palm, Fl. With my brother.
You guys have been at the top of our bucket list to see.
Blown away, doesn’t even come close to define the show you guys put on! From sound, to production, it was seamless! John has been my guitar idol since I started playing 26 years ago. The chemistry you 4 is unbelievable!! You guys are truly my favorite band! I still can’t believe it!!!!!!
I hope to see you guys one more time in the next couple years. We will never forget this!

This letter is to not only Anthony, but to the entire red hot chili peppers band and all that made it possible. I first would like to say that my name is not important, but the one I would like you and any other person that is reading this to remember is April Michelle Harris ! she and I were cousins and only children from our mothers. We grew up together and we’re basically sisters. she was Booksmart and I was street smart. I was the pretty one her not so much. but we both Suffered the same. in 2018 , unaware both began our hard-core addiction to heroin/cocaine by injection. She only used for eight short months, and she managed to get clean. A month goes by and she shared that she did not feel right inside. We begged her to go to the hospital, but she brushed it off. Beginning the second month she called me and told me that she could not get out of bed and asked if I would come pick her up and take her to the hospital. That was the beginning to the end. The doctors informed me that she had Mersa of the heart. From my blood infection that had gone untreated due to a dirty needle. She spent three weeks in the hospital. Her health was like a yo-yo, the infection had destroyed her respiratory system. and even with today’s medicine, they could not help her. I was the only one in our family that was there every day the last evening she had on this earth she told me she was tired, and was going to take a nap, and that she loved me. As she slipped away into her slumber, I often played her music . We both enjoyed the Red Hot chili peppers and could relate to under the bridge. Which was the last song she ever heard. I was the only person with her when she took her last breath. My addiction did not stop there. It grew very shortly tremendously after that. I lost everything. I lost my children. My family disowned me. I lost my home my car my job and I ended up living on the streets for three years. And then incarcerated for my crimes. I have now been clean and sober for three years. The worst part of it all was and is that I cannot remember the month, the day, or even the hospital when she passed away. I did not attend the funeral, because I was too busy getting high. Not even a year later, her mother passed away of a broken heart. I did not find out that my aunt had passed away for many months after she was already deceased, For all of that, I hold a lot of guilt and shame. i’m really not sure why I feel compelled to write you this, but I do. If I could only remember, but what I do have to say is thank you. I felt she and I bonded on a much higher level than any words could ever express. I sure hope this letter finds its way to you and you actually read it. Thank you again for all your hard work for all these years for all your pain and all your suffering to make this music possible.