Zach W’s Testimonial

My name is Zack W. I’m 35 years old. I’m from Powdersville, South Carolina. I want to start off by saying if it weren’t for a loving family who knew when to stop enabling me and my addictions and shut the door on me, I probably wouldn’t be standing here sharing my story today. 

My upbringing was that of any typical loving and caring mother and father who sacrificed daily to see that my sister and I had everything we could ever need. My dad worked extremely hard to provide for us while my mother was a full-time, stay-at-home mom. From the time I can remember, I always wanted to be like my father: hard-working, responsible, a man of influence.  My family was always there for me. 

At 16, I had my wisdom teeth cut out, top and bottom. The doctor wrote me a prescription for painkillers, and that was my first taste of opioids. All I can remember is feeling like I was melting into the couch as I lay there. I loved it. It was like nothing I’d ever experienced. By high school, I had sustained a few sports-related injuries, and once again, I was prescribed narcotics. I had to have them every day. Stealing pills from my parents' and grandparents' medicine cabinets became an everyday thing.  

After high school, I enlisted in the US Army and suffered my first detox during basic training. About a year and a half into my army career, I committed a burglary, so I was generally discharged under honorable conditions.  

During that time, my opiate addiction kicked back up to a 20-pill-a-day habit that was costing me nearly $200 to $300 per day for well over a year. It cost me a relationship and a landscape business and put me farther into a downward spiral, which led to me using street heroin.  I began to move around some, hoping to escape my addiction.

I moved to Portland, Oregon, for a fresh start but started injecting street drugs and became homeless, 3000 miles from home for 3.5 years. Portland felt like a war zone; every day was a battle just to survive. Defeated, sick and very tired, I finally went back home. 

My parents took me back in; I worked some and, for a while, could hide my addiction. Eventually, I met a girl named Cassi. We fell in love, got an apartment and began using drugs more frequently. She became pregnant and gave birth to a beautiful and healthy boy. She maintained her sobriety the entire time she was pregnant. I did not. I had no control. It was my master, and I was its slave. 

I can remember sitting in the hospital after she had our son, thinking, “Man, I wish I could figure out a way to slip away and get a fix.” It’s truly sad for me to think back on it now. How precious my son was lying there in the room and using drugs was going through my mind.  

When our son was 14 months old, we dropped him off one night at his cousins’ house so we could have a night to ourselves. He was still in diapers, and I can remember when we got to his cousins, we changed him before we left. We gave him love and hugs and were on our way. Little did we know that would be the last night he would ever see his mother.

We met our dealer and got around $60 worth of fentanyl. She tried it first and went to take a shower. As I was about to snort mine, she leaned her head out of the shower and said, 

“Hey, don’t do it all.”

For some reason, I actually listened and stopped short. I didn't know at the time but those would be the last words she ever said to me. And I feel as though they saved my life. 

I came to 3 hours later. I called for her, but no answer. I frantically looked for her throughout the house; I couldn’t find her in the living room, bedroom, or on the front porch, so I ran back to the shower. She was balled up in the corner of the bathtub, naked and cold. I knew she was dead. She was only 30 years old.  

I wanted a new life for my son. I tried outpatient treatment, methadone, and suboxone, but I still found myself using street drugs. I could not stay sober, and everyone I loved was through with me. I was homeless once again.  

One day, Cassi’s mom found an ad on Facebook for an open bed at a new place called The Legacy Home. I agreed to go to a 6-month program, but in my heart, I fully intended to stay no more than 30 days. I even tried to sneak drugs in with me to get me through, but they found them right after my mom pulled off. We had classes daily out of the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous, the 12 Steps, and the Bible. It’s crazy how they all seem to make sense. I realized I was powerless. I knew my life was unmanageable, and I knew that I constantly sought a chemical solution for my spiritual problem. Yet that was the problem. It didn’t work. 

I learned that any life run on self-will could hardly be a success. I learned that rigorous honesty and willingness to clean up the wreckage of my past were vital steps in moving forward. Working with a sponsor and seeking counsel before making decisions is not only responsible, it’s refreshing and absolutely necessary. 

On January 17th, 2025, I decided to re-dedicate my life to Christ, fully aware of what it meant this time. I was baptized by two of my mentors and brothers in Christ. And It wasn’t until I started sponsoring another man, giving away what was so freely given to me, that I learned that was the key to maintaining sobriety. You start to see God's healing power take root in others' lives, and if that isn’t enough to make you believe, I don’t know what is. God will do for you what you’re unable to do for yourself. 

I am now a present father to my son, whom I love and cherish down to the very core of my being. It takes time to rebuild the destruction of our past, but I fully trust in God's timing. I now have full-time employment, and I want to thank Russ and Stephen for creating a place where the broken can find freedom and purpose, as well as Kevin for seeing right through me and my selfishness. I don’t know if you know this or not, but I appreciate the 15+ times of writing 60-63 out of the BB, the book of James, Ephesians, 1 Timothy, and don’t forget 2 Timothy. 

It was things like that that were designed to punish me that I actually started to embrace and use in my daily living. I appreciate the meals, the hugs, the culture, the fellowship. Stephen, God is using you to reach men who are hopeless. You have a heart of gold. You are an amazing teacher, mentor, and friend. Though I could go on about how great you are, I know that your ego is already big enough. I’m grateful to have been handpicked by Him and found a better path.

God bless you all, and thank you!