At the age of 30 Nick was married, had a child and was a financial planner working in New York City. By the age of 35 he took his first painkiller and felt like he was going to use for the rest of his life. He wound up buying prescription drugs off the streets, ultimately going down a spiral of heroin abuse. He’s calculated the math and believes he’s spent about $80,000 in a year on drugs.

Kicked out of his home by his wife, Nick went to a facility center. He tried to listen and take in everything that was taught by his counselors and managers but the whole time he was there he knew that he wasn’t done using. After being clean for almost 90 days Nick decided to use one more time. He overdosed that day and would overdose once more two months later. Nick says the scariest day of his life was when he woke up to the sight of cops asking him questions post overdose.

Sent to treatment Nick knew that if he was going to go to another treatment center one thing he had to do was be honest. Not only to those around him but to himself. He considers that the first step in actually making a recovery.

He also began to follow people whose life he wanted to emulate. He wanted to be happy. He went to 300 meetings in 90 days. Meetings kept him grounded. Meetings kept Nick sober.