He had the love of his family. He had the tools he learned from his recent 30-day stay in rehab. He had the desire to stop using alcohol and drugs. But it wasn't enough. If you missed part 1 or part 2 of their story, read it before going on:
This is my Alcohol Story: Ashley & Brian (Part 1 of 4)
This is my Alcohol Story: Ashley & Brian (Part 2 of 4)
Falling Off the Wagon
Within months of starting a new job and being around co-workers who used alcohol and drugs, Brian started using again. He fell back into the cycle of losing jobs, struggling in life, and using alcohol and drugs even more to cope with it all.
One day Brian got violently ill. He knew it was worse than the other times. Ashley was tired of the vicious cycle he put her and their family through, but she knew he was really sick. She figured they would just pump his stomach and discharge him like usual. So she dropped him off at the hospital and headed to work. But then she got a phone call from the hospital.
Brian had been admitted into the hospital. He was in ICU for cardiac arrest symptoms.
"You are going to die."
Brian previously had liver issues from the heavy drinking and now was dealing with heart problems. Once he was stable, the doctor told him if he kept drinking and doing drugs he would die.
Getting Help... Again
Brian remembers that his doctor's words affected him more than anything else had. He knew how serious his condition was, but hearing it from an ICU doctor really made it sink in. He started going to church with his family, and he even started attending weekly gatherings for people dealing with similar hurts, habits, or hang-ups.
He knew recovery wouldn't be easy, but he was more determined than ever. Could he stay clean if it meant saving his life? We'll continue his story in next week's post.
Why we care
Whether you're an addict trying to stop or reduce your amount of drinking or just someone who struggles making good choices when you've occasionally had a few too many drinks, we offer products such as ignition interlock devices to help people take back control over their alcohol use. Through our work with ignition interlock devices, we come into contact with a lot of people whose lives have been affected by alcohol. We see negative impacts caused by alcohol all the time, and we try our best to help even if it's just in a small way. We want to help you and we want to keep the roads safe. Visit our website to see some of the products we offer at Smart Start of Alabama. Call us or complete our contact form if you're ready to see how we can help.
