by Lohr McKinstry
MORIAH — Former professional lacrosse player Ken Bartolo recently had a powerful message for students at Moriah Central School about his long climb back from drug addiction.
As students listened intently, Bartolo told a chilling story of how his promising athletic calling was destroyed when he became addicted to marijuana and prescription drugs in high school in Syracuse.
“I started early,” he said. “It led to a steady decline in my athletic career.”
He was on his way to becoming a professional football player, he said, with scholarships offered to Syracuse University, University of Massachusetts and University of Maryland.