Steve Bradley has seen hell and lives to tell his story.
In his self-published memoir, Two Miles West of Inyokern, the Victoria native writes about his 27-year narcotic addiction, and how he came out the other side.
His state is summarised in a passage he wrote after a heroin binge sparked by a painful break-up, B次元官网网址淧hysically, mentally and spiritually I felt my life slipping away from me. Having a repentant heart was not the way you would have described me; I was more like a madman.B次元官网网址�
BradleyB次元官网网址檚 tale of redemption couldnB次元官网网址檛 come at a better time, as B.C. currently faces an opioid crisis.
He immigrated to Canada with his family from England at age 12. His life went downhill at age 16 when his father B次元官网网址� to whom the book is dedicated to B次元官网网址� died from leukemia.
B次元官网网址淎fter he died I just had to get away. I was expelled from school, I tried to join the navy and was turned down,B次元官网网址� says Bradley, who, around this time, survived a horrific ordeal when he was kidnapped and abused in the Fraser Valley.
After decades of shuffling between jail cells, psychiatric institutions and the streets, he finally found sobriety at age 42.
B次元官网网址淚 hit rock bottom in 1989 during an 18-month jail stint. Around that time, I was visiting a lady who was into cocaine; I was on opiates. It was the middle of the day and I went into a pharmacy on Douglas Street.
B次元官网网址淢y intention was not to rob the place. I saw a guy in a white coat put these pills in bottles, filling prescriptions and I thought, B次元官网网址業B次元官网网址檓 not into pills, IB次元官网网址檓 not interested in money,B次元官网网址� I was just feeling sorry for myself and angry,B次元官网网址� he recalls. B次元官网网址淲hen I saw this guy, I wanted him to pay for everything going wrong in my life.B次元官网网址�
An altercation ensued and when police arrived, Bradley told them: B次元官网网址淵eah, just take me to Wilkinson Road jail.B次元官网网址�
He surrendered again in jail, this time to his powerlessness over drugs.
B次元官网网址淏y that time I had tried everything [to quit] and I kept going back to jail. I just wasnB次元官网网址檛 getting the answer,B次元官网网址� he says. During his stay, he attended an alcohol and drug seminar where a man spoke about 12-step recovery programs.
During the talk, one of the inmates interrupted the speaker in jest, saying, B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 need the 12 steps, IB次元官网网址檝e got Jesus.B次元官网网址�
When Bradley returned to his cell, he says, he was overcome with suicidal thoughts. He not only thought about the speaker, but the inmate who had interrupted him.
Then, Bradley thought about God. On his bunk, he prayed: B次元官网网址淲ell God, if youB次元官网网址檙e real, I need your help. IB次元官网网址檝e destroyed my life.B次元官网网址�
The next morning, he says, he felt a signifigant shift.
B次元官网网址淲hether it was God, or it was my own spirit B次元官网网址� I donB次元官网网址檛 really know. But what I do know is that my life was changed from that moment on. Before that, it was all B次元官网网址榤e, me, me.B次元官网网址� Then, out of nowhere, I had the urge to help others.B次元官网网址�
But his story doesnB次元官网网址檛 end there. Fourteen years after his sentence ended, Bradley was sober and confronted by his past B次元官网网址� in the form of the man he assaulted in the pharmacy.
B次元官网网址淭his guy comes up to me in Emmanuel Baptist Church, looking like a little angel in a beautiful suit and said B次元官网网址揑B次元官网网址檓 glad you didnB次元官网网址檛 kill me. And I looked at him, and all we could do was hug each other.B次元官网网址�
Bradley has dedicated the last 25 years of his life to social service, from sharing his anti-drug message at Victoria high schools, to corresponding with inmates across Canada.
He served as a chaplin with the Canadian Baptists of Western Canada and is a founding member and executive director of the Connection to Freedom Jail and Street Outreach Society. ItB次元官网网址檚 a program where roughly 40 men meet on Thursdays at 7 p.m. at the Mustard Seed to discuss sobriety and how to stay out of trouble.
Connection with others, Bradley explains, is central to getting better.
B次元官网网址淲hether you are struggling with heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil, prescription opioids or other drugs, I have found that, as well as faith in God, the most important principle in recovery from addiction is forgiveness for others and forgiveness for self.B次元官网网址�
Two Miles West of Inyokern is available at Bolen Books (Hillside Mall) and at Christian Book & Music (3090 Nanaimo St).
