Editor\u2019s Note: In honor of the many everyday Staten Islanders who give back, make change, inspire others, advocate and\/or care about their community, we are highlighting some of the standouts, and honoring them as Staten Island\u2019s Brightest Lights of 2025.<\/p>\n
Staten Island\u2019s Brightest Lights of 2025: Michael Murdocco<\/p>\n
Michael Murdocco\u2019s journey is a powerful testament to resilience and redemption. His story begins with promise\u2014good grades, a bright future\u2014but spiraled into years of substance abuse that nearly cost him everything. Instead of letting addiction define him, he fought his way back, determined to reclaim his life and share his experience to help others avoid the same path.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe old me died, and that\u2019s when I was resurrected and started a new life,\u201d he said about the start of his recovery.<\/p>\n
Today, he speaks openly about the choices and circumstances that led him to heroin, using his voice as a tool for change. Through candid conversations, he\u2019s breaking down stigma and offering hope to those still struggling. <\/p>\n
Here is his story, originally published July 14, 2025:<\/p>\n
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Michael Murdocco believes he\u2019s overdosed at least twice. <\/p>\n
Waking up in his car one night in front of the home of someone from whom he had purchased heroin, he vaguely recalls firefighters putting him in an ambulance after administering naloxone \u2014 a medication that rapidly reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. <\/p>\n
\u201cI told them I was taking a nap,\u201d he said. \u201cBut everyone knew I wasn\u2019t taking a nap.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rushed to Richmond University Medical Center, he was discharged a few hours later. The fact that he had snorted all of the heroin he had on him likely saved him from having NYPD officers putting him in a police patrol car and taking him to a Staten Island precinct stationhouse, he admitted. <\/p>\n
Murdocco, a Westerleigh resident, was once a promising student at Port Richmond High School\u2019s Collegiate Academy. Today, at 41, he\u2019s a recovering addict who credits divine intervention with saving his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I didn\u2019t get sober when I did, I would 100% be in the ground already,\u201d Murdocco told the Advance\/SILive.com. \u201cThere is no doubt in my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murdocco\u2019s struggles with addiction began during freshman year, not long after learning of his parents\u2019 impending divorce. That summer, he began experimenting with marijuana and alcohol. Fast forward to junior year, and he was barely attending school.<\/p>\n
\u201cI basically dropped out,\u201d he said. \u201cI would just go for third period just to not get the phone calls home.\u201d <\/p>\n
His drug use escalated to ecstasy that he\u2019d score in the Manhattan clubs he\u2019d get into with a fake ID. But despite the downward spiral he was swirling into, Murdocco was offered the opportunity to return for his diploma rather than settling for a GED. Buckling down, he managed to maintain a 94 average and went on to make honor roll.<\/p>\n
After high school, Murdocco briefly attended college in New Jersey, maintaining a near-perfect GPA in the hopes of receiving a scholarship that he ultimately wouldn\u2019t get. With things not playing out as he had planned, he took his father\u2019s advice and applied to the electrical union.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never lifted a tool in my life,\u201d Murdocco told his father at the time. Regardless, he joined Local 3 in July 2006 and ended his college career early. <\/p>\n
At this point he\u2019d spend his off-hours dabbling as a DJ, surfing the bar scene on waves of alcohol and cocaine, unaware of the darker addiction that awaited him.<\/p>\n
Injury led to pill addiction<\/p>\n
And by 2010, his life took several sad detours, including the death of his grandmother. He suffered a workplace injury that both tore his shoulder and took off a piece of his finger.<\/p>\n
He was prescribed 30-milligram oxycodone pills for pain management.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where I think that whole epidemic started,\u201d he said. \u201cI got hooked really bad on the pain pills.\u201d<\/p>\n
His doctor, a pain management specialist who would go on to be convicted in 2017 for his role in a multi-million-dollar opioid distribution ring in which authorities alleged he prescribed 2.6 million oxycodone pills, upped Murdocco\u2019s script to 240 pills a month, Murdocco said. A dosage of eight pills daily. <\/p>\n
Murdocco said he would often alternate between taking the prescribed dose and taking liberties with the directions on the bottle as he crushed and snorted up to 12 pills a day.<\/p>\n
Still, he went about his daily routine.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was basically I was more in survival mode than living,\u201d he said. \u201cBecause now I was physically dependent on these pills.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Opioid](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/CNZ4JYGHURFDRJK6AMBLFQZWNE.jpg\")
Michael Murdocco emphasizes the importance of having a supportive family. He maintains that building a strong recovery foundation is essential for those looking to crawl out of those dark downward spirals. Here he is pictured alongside his mom, Sharon.(Photo courtesy of Michael Murdocco)<\/p>\n
His addiction strained his relationship with his younger brother. His life became what he described as \u201ca free-for-all for a couple of years,\u201d as his days ticked by while he self-dispensed oxycodone, cocaine and ketamine. <\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t until summer 2015 that Murdocco reached his tipping point. He had run out of an entire month\u2019s worth of pills before his next scheduled doctor\u2019s appointment and was facing withdrawal symptoms with work in the morning. He dialed an acquaintance who happened to use heroin.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just wanted something to hold me over, so I didn\u2019t have to go through withdrawals,\u201d he explained. But after trying heroin, he realized it was cheaper than pills and produced the same effects. Within months, he was sniffing \u201ctwo to three bundles a day, which is like 20 or 30 little bags.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I was on heroin, it was like being possessed,\u201d Murdocco explained. \u201cIt\u2019s like you\u2019re in your body, but you\u2019re not. You\u2019re not in control of anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Admits struggle to family<\/p>\n
By November 2015, he finally admitted to his family that he was struggling, even though they had their suspicions. Two days after Christmas, he entered Clearbrook Treatment Center in Pennsylvania for a 28-day program. <\/p>\n
\u201cI had to ask my father for money to go get heroin just so I wouldn\u2019t be in withdrawal until I got to the rehab and they put me into detox,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
Despite completing the program, Murdocco wasn\u2019t fully committed to recovery. He returned home, attended some Narcotics Anonymous meetings, but didn\u2019t work with a sponsor or complete a 12-step program. <\/p>\n
Eventually, he began drinking occasionally, which led back to using cocaine and back to the waiting room of the pain management doctor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
It wouldn\u2019t be until Martin Luther King Day in 2017 that Murdocco felt completely defeated. Mentally, physically and spiritually drained, he \u201cjust felt like an empty soul.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018God came to me\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cBut something came over me that day. For me, it was God,\u201d he explained. \u201cGod came to me. God did something to me that day that I can\u2019t explain. And I don\u2019t know how he did it.\u201d<\/p>\n
His cousin put him in touch with Alicia Palermo-Reddy who\u2019s become well-known throughout the rehab community and the borough as \u201cthe Addiction Angel.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Grand](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/XTJMHKZM5NGL7AH26I465ATXOU.JPG\")
Alicia Palermo-Reddy, known as “the Addiction Angel,” has spent nearly 20 years supporting Staten Islanders facing drug issues. In 2017, she arranged treatment for Michael Murdocco at a rehab facility in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Advance\/SILive.com | Scott R. Axelrod)<\/p>\n