Jon Bon Jovi clueless about daughter’s addiction

Rocker and icon Jon Bon Jovi was blindsided by daughter Stephanie Bongiovi’s Nov. 14 overdose, and prays that she’s already hit bottom. She’s a “great kid” with good grades, her father says.

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In November, Jon Bon Jovi got the call every parent fears: Not only was his college-age daughter not safely tucked into her dorm room bed, she was in the hospital with a suspected heroin overdose.

Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea Hurley, learned about Stephanie Bongiovi’s drug problem, and her overdose, at the same time.

“I’m shocked as much as the next parent with this situation and had no idea,” Bon Jovi told the Associated Press.

Before the overdose, Bon Jovi said, Stephanie, 19, was doing very well in life. At least, that’s what he and his wife thought.

“Steph is a great kid. Great GPA,” he said. “Cool school, Hamilton College up in Clinton, N.Y. Everything about it is idyllic. She was doing great. Then a sudden and steep decline.”

That sudden and steep decline ended abruptly the night of Nov. 14, when Stephanie Bongiovi was rushed to the hospital after being found unresponsive in a Hamilton dorm room.

Jon Bon Jovi’s daughter had a very, very bad night >>

Investigators who visited the scene removed marijuana and glassine envelopes.

Bongiovi was charged at first with misdemeanor possession of heroin and marijuana and the use of drug paraphernalia.

Those charges were dropped after investigation. Prosecutors cited New York’s Good Samaritan law, which protects those who have a suspected overdose.

“People will say she got away with murder because of who she is, but this law was passed so people don’t watch somebody die because they’re afraid of jail,” Oneida County District Attorney Scott McNamara told the New York Daily News. “And you don’t want the person overdosing to say, ‘No, don’t call.'”

Meanwhile, Jon Bon Jovi and his wife have been doing some soul searching.

“We bring home this girl the first day. Now what? Where’s the manual? There was no manual,” he said about raising his daughter. “So you bring her up the best you can, you surround her with hugs and kisses and know that she may eventually fall down,” he said. “Hopefully, we caught it when we did and that’s the end of it,” he said.

Image courtesy Adriana M. Bar