Rebounding, Fighting Back: Two Tales Of Lives Forever Changed

Parents looking to help their teenagers understand the consequences of bad decisions are urged to bring them to a free event Thursday at Pine Belt Arena on the campus of Toms River High School North.

There they can hear Chris Herren, a former high school basketball star who reached the NBA, talk about how getting mixed up with drugs cut his career short before it really got off the ground.

And they can hear the story of Gabriel Hurley, a New Jersey resident, whose life was forever altered by teenagers who were speeding and joyriding on a June night in 2009.

Both are speaking at Pine Belt Arena as part of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s offices ongoing effort to educate teens about the dangers of drugs and more.

Herren will discuss gateway drugs, prescription drug abuse, drinking and driving as well as self-harm. He will conclude with fielding questions from the audience.

Hurley will discuss the events that left him blind and without a sense of smell, and making a new path for his life.

The forum begins at 6 p.m. and is scheduled to end at 8 p.m. Admission is free.