On the road to recovery: Former drug addict finds healing in running
Andrew Rankin
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, July 8, 2010

Even a heart attack at age 33 couldn't make Bradley Firth stop smoking crack.

"The doctor told me, If you continue to smoke it you're going to die. Your heart is telling you that."

He admits the incident, which occurred in 2003, "shook him to his core" and kept him off drugs for three years. But the addiction got the better of him. He was an addict again.

Two years ago, the former Inuvik resident joined his friends at a downtown Vancouver detox centre. He's been clean since and he's sure it will stay that way.

"I was doing it (rehab) for the wrong reasons back then. This time around I'm doing it for myself. I'm pushing myself a lot harder."

In May, the former Inuvik resident raced in the 42-km Vancouver Marathon - the largest international marathon event in Canada. He placed a remarkable 102 out of 3,383 athletes. His time puts him in elite running status, earning him a qualifying spot in the Boston Marathon. He's aiming to run from Vancouver to Inuvik next summer as a means to bring awareness to alcohol and drug addiction and offering hope to those struggling with it.

The 40-year-old's life is starting to come together. In a few days he will complete a college certificate program, the first step in fulfilling his dream to be an alcohol and drugs addictions counsellor. He will attend Simon Fraser University or the University of British Columbia in the fall to complete the four-year diploma program.

He's living in Vancouver with 12 other recovering addicts who are all currently supporting each other through their recovery.

It's been a long and painful road for Firth. He was already an alcoholic when he moved to Vancouver from Inuvik in 1994 to work as a house framer. Before he knew it a colleague introduced him to crack and cocaine. At first he did it recreationally. Gradually it became chronic, as he smoked for weeks on end without sleeping.

"It was such a rush, like skiing downhill full speed. I remember thinking, Wow, where were you? Where have you been all my life?"

Off the drugs, his bosses loved his work but getting him on-site proved nearly impossible. He lost dozens of jobs.

"You become a slave to your addiction," he said. "Sometimes it's scary; you see death a lot. You see people hurting. You think, That's not going to happen to me."

Except it did.

"I chose to walk away from family. I chose to walk away from school, I chose to walk away from relationships."

He spent seven years living homeless in the notorious Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. Like many other junkies, he did what it took to feed his addiction; breaking into homes and construction sites.

Dennis Allen, a well-known Inuvik artist, used to live and work in Vancouver. Allen, who's battled his own addictions, remembers seeing Firth on the streets and wondering if he would make it.

"Any type of addiction is not pretty," he said. "I was really worried about him. I didn't think he would get out alive. He was gone and he was in a really dark place."

Like Allen, Firth found a way out of his addiction. With Allen it was music and for Firth it was running, something he always enjoyed and was good at as a boy living in Inuvik.

"Bradley found something," said Allen. "People think addiction is the easy way out but really it's the harder way out. Everything's against you."

"It takes a few times to break free from it. It took me a few times. You have to deal with those demons, the way Bradley is dealing with it is through running and leading a healthy lifestyle.

While in jail on theft charges he got so bored that he just started to run around his cell. When he hit the streets, he kept on running. Healing hasn't come instantly but he's getting there.

Every morning starts with a two-hour run.

"I love the runner's high," he said. "It dictates how my day is going to go."

He eats balanced, healthy meals. His days are packed; if he's not in school he's in acting class or pow wow dancing.

"I do something recovery related," he said. "I don't let the addict inside me awaken and let it do what it wants to do. I don't give it a chance to breathe because he's got no room to breath. That's what recovery is about, being motivated doing something that is fun and healthy."

His dream is to move back to the NWT and work at a recovery centre in Yellowknife, where he thinks he can effect change the most. He wants to be a living example to youth that no matter how bad things get, you can always find a way out.

"I want to help kids, showing people that you can change your behaviour. There's a lot of hope out there and people who care. Take it from me."

If you or someone you know is struggling with an addiction, there is help and there is hope.

Please go to the Angels D & A Referral Centre  and call your nearest help line

or contact any of the Angels Treatment & Aftercare Team. 

“We are always ready to help!”