Submitted by Jordan Young, Heroes in Recovery lead advocate
Brandon has never been one to back down from a challenge. From his time starring on the basketball courts at the University of Tennessee and professionally overseas, to his current profession of helping people find hope in the darkest moments of their lives, he has always found a way to help his team win. His current team is a treatment center that gives hope to people and offers a way out of their addicted lives. He used to measure wins in terms of scoring more points than the other team. Now he measures wins in terms of helping people change their lives for the better. In the last three years, he has helped over 300 people find hope for their lives by getting into treatment. He was gracious enough to spend some time discussing that with me.
“When people call your facility seeking help for an addiction, what are the factors that kept them from calling earlier?”
“For most people dealing with addiction, the whole stigma with getting treatment kept them from calling sooner. I think that’s just from years and years of the way things were. You didn’t go to treatment unless you were really, really bad. It was just looked at as such a bad thing. Also, it’s such a hard thing to give up control and say you can’t do it on your own.
“What leads most of the callers that do ask for help to that point?”
“There are so many things. It’s always something major that happened though. It’s some kind of traumatic experience. Either they got arrested, got sick, or had some type or episode that made it clear that they needed help. At that moment, something has happened to make them realize their life is going in a bad direction.
“Can you talk about a particular patient that sticks out to you?”
“I have gotten a lot of people into treatment, so I don’t remember all of them, but I remember one woman vividly. I remember her, in particular, because her story made such an impact on me. She went to the hospital because of her drinking and almost died. She called when she got out of the hospital. The doctor had told her if she drank again she would die. Her attitude was, ‘I guess I’m going to go home and get ready to die because I’m not going to stop drinking.’ She ended up going to treatment and took her last drink right before she stepped into the facility. She went through the program, successfully completing it, and has been doing really well every since. Sometime later, she came into our office to thank me. She told me I had saved her life because I was so persistent. We still email each other to this day.
“Did she say what her life is like now?”
“She says she is so much happier with her sobriety. She never thought she could be this happy. It’s an awesome story! Addiction is such a habit and she had been drinking for so long that now she feels like she has a brand new life.
“Based on your experience, do you have any advice for someone battling an addiction?”
“I would say ask for help. I think that’s the biggest thing. So many people are just too stubborn. They think they can do it on their own. Addiction is so tough and life is tough, in general. Sometimes you need help and shouldn’t feel ashamed asking for it. I tell the patients I speak with that they’re not alone. All over the world, people are going through the same thing. Just ask for help and you can get it. That is the best advice I can give.