The Responsibility Project^®. Exploring what it means to do the right thing

When Dad’s the Drug Pusher

18 Comments

April 10, 2008 by Kathy McManus

Like most competitive athletes, in-line speed-skater Corey Gahan hoped fierce determination and hard training would give him the edge he needed to fulfill his dream of becoming the best in his sport.

But unlike most competitive athletes, Corey Gahan’s father insisted on supplying that winning edge, regularly injecting his son with steroids and human growth hormone, the same illegal substances at the heart of the ongoing major league baseball scandal. And unlike the pros, Corey started to receive the shots when he was just 13 years old.

In less than a year, Corey’s blood tests showed he had more than 20 times the normal testosterone level of an adult male. His father continued the shots. Corey says he felt “like I was doing something wrong.” But the teenager trusted his father.

By age 15, Corey was a national champion; at 16, a record-setter. On the rare occasions Corey lost, his father refused to speak to him. When he won, the paternal rewards included televisions, PlayStations, and an American Express gold card.

And then Corey failed a drug test. And another.

The United States Anti-Doping Agency suspended him for two years, and a criminal investigation was begun to determine who had supplied Corey with steroid shots. He was ordered to forfeit all the races he had won in the previous two years.

But the final shot was the one through Corey’s heart, when he did what he believed he had a responsibility to do. Having already lost his status as a sports champion, Corey Gahan lost his father, by turning him in to authorities.

James Gahan--Corey’s father--was sentenced to six years in federal prison. He is believed to be the first parent in the U.S. convicted of providing steroids to his child.

Tell us what you think--Was there any other way Corey Gahan could have done the right thing without implicating his father? Should the son share responsibility with the father?

18 Comments

What do you think? Leave a comment

• April 10, 2008 by Pat S

  Injecting a child with an illegal substance is child abuse. Mr. Gagan risked his son's long-term health and set his son up to face the legal consequences of failing his drug tests, while teaching him that cheating is an acceptable way to win. It sounds like Corey was trying to survive in a very dysfunctional and controlling environment created by his father. It must have taken a great deal of courage for Corey to do the right thing and report his father to the authorities. Children do NOT have an obligation to protect their abusers from the consequences of their behavior, and it's rather surprising that you are suggesting that perhaps Corey should have tried to do so. My question is, why was Mr. Gagan not prosecuted for child abuse?

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• April 10, 2008 by Natalie

  He absolutely did the right thing. At some point he may have felt backed into a corner, but turning his father in was the ethical thing to do. I am sure at some point, he was mature enough to understand the consequences of what his father was doing to him and he knew it was wrong, but if he feared his father the way I expect he did, it was brave of him to do what he did.

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• April 11, 2008 by Donna Shelton

  Yes, I firmly believe that Corey did the right thing. There are such deeper levels to this story than the obvious wrong that Corey's father did to him by injecting him with an illegal substance. There is the sadness of a father putting his son's life at risk for the sake of "winning." (What has been "won" here?) There is the harm that was done to a father-son relationship which should be a precious thing. There is the guilt that Corey may understandably feel by turning in his father. And there is the fact that Corey's father harmed his son not only physically, but quite possibly emotionally by not allowing him to have a normal childhood and the chance to know if he could have been a competitive athlete on his own without the drugs. What has this done to Corey's overall perspective on life? What a sad situation, both for Corey and for his emotionally warped father.

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  • April 11, 2008 by Dani O'Malley

    You've said it -- what was won overall? I think Corey did the right thing. Having been in an abusive family, sometimes you just don't see it when you're in the middle of it. I know that's hard to believe or understand... but it's true. But I'm proud of Corey. Very proud of him.

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• April 11, 2008 by Valleester

  It had to be hard for him to turn his Dad in, but the longer he would have waited, the longer his road to recovery might have been. Maybe while Corey's Dad is in the pen, he'll be able to get the psychological help he needs to help him be a better Dad.

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• April 14, 2008 by Erik

  Not only did the kid do the right thing, but his father got off easy. The kid was 13 years old when his father started him on steroids? Wow. That to me is worse than having a child born addicted to cocaine. Crack babies exist because their parents were sucked into an addiction before they became parents. The injuries that they cause to their children are not completely intentional, and usually very regrettable. For a father to give his child a substance like steroids for his own greed should be a capitol offense.

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• April 30, 2008 by Stefen Scheib

  Are you referring to Cory's father? If so, I would say that it is first required that you have a heart in order to be shot through it. How could his father just sit by while his own son ,whom he had injected, was accused of being a druggie. The true coward in this story is the father. Cory was 100% right in accusing his father. Sometimes the adult has to be wrong. You make it sound like Cory was a heartless criminal by implicating his father.

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• May 6, 2008 by James Allard

  Granted, he will most likely never know that (as of this posting) we all think he did the right thing. He did, in my opinion, and I feel truly heartbroken that any child, for any reason, would be in that position. He took the harder path, made the tough choice, and will have to live with the consequences. Hopefully, dad will catch on that he belongs where he is, and will come to see that his son is a brave young man, a champion worthy of highest praise.

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• August 19, 2008 by Shelly

  Cory's father could have done serious damage to this kid developmentally. He could have stunted his growth physically, and emotionally. Sometimes it’s even harder to stand up to our family. What Cory did was valiant and many adults wouldn't be courageous enough to do what he did.

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• January 6, 2009 by

  There is no possible responsible mindset that could answer these questions with anything other than a flat, absolute, unshakable no. The father's a monster. Period. End of story. If anybody deserves execution it's him. His crime is as despicable as any I can imagine--exploiting his son for nothing better than his own pathetic ego. I suppose he could have pimped his daughter; probably would have, given the opportunity. By the way, where, if anywhere, was Corey's mother while this abomination was going on? Why is she completely absent both from the report and any question of responsibility? How about aunts, uncles, grandparents, neighbors? Did these two inhabit a cave somewhere? Blaming the kid? No possible stinking way, by definition. He was a CHILD, for god's sake.

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• January 17, 2009 by

  His father was 100% wrong.

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• January 27, 2009 by

  IT IS GOOD BEING A MAN CORY - GREAT JOB - YOU DID THE RIGHT THING.

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• February 11, 2009 by sara

  Stop using steroids

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Tell us what you think.