- You know, eight years ago I couldn't get a needle
out of my arm, and today, I have a rope with someone else's
life on the end of it.
And that's all been made possible by Phoenix.
(uplifting music)
- We lose a loved one every four minutes to an overdose.
And the problem is as big as it's ever been.
So we have to find a new approach.
We use the inherent transformative power of sports
and community to help people heal
from substance use disorder,
and ultimately, to transform their lives.
- Awesome! Nice work!
- For me, drinking and drugging was how I tried to
address self-esteem wounds from when I was a little kid.
I was dealing with a lot of depression.
The last night I used, I realized how my life was gonna end
if I kept on with my addiction.
I was on a bender and I just couldn't imagine somebody
having to tell my mom that that's how I died.
And that was the last night I used.
For me, getting into the boxing gym
was really transformational
because the coaches believed in me even if
I didn't yet believe in myself.
Once I started to hold that belief,
that helped me start to heal from my addiction.
That was like the foundation of
what later would become Phoenix.
- And, right.
- I think one thing that's special about coming down
to Moab for the Phoenix trip is that people come from
everywhere to be a part of this trip.
- For me, pills turned into heroin,
and it was just a really slippery slope from there.
My first Phoenix event was at the rock climbing gym.
I met Todd and Kayley that night.
To be able to relate to somebody and know that
they've been through some of the same things that you have
kinda makes you have a connection to that person.
(engine revs)
- So I got arrested seven times in six months,
and one of the things the drug court judge recommended to me
was that I go to Phoenix.
Nobody there was ashamed of the fact that
they were in recovery.
Yeah, they kind of changed my perception
of it all, right there.
- I think at the height of my addiction,
I did heroin everyday, all day.
All my muscles had atrophied, and my kidneys were failing.
During my drinking and using, relationships with others
were never healthy.
But Phoenix has showed me that we get close to people
through sharing our struggle.
David is the epitome of what recovery can look like.
When I first met him, he was living in a shelter,
and had nothing.
- Have fun?
- Let's do it.
All right. Climbing. Climb on.
- You know, Phoenix doesn't give people strength,
it helps them tap into their intrinsic strength.
- There you go. Nice.
- It's really not about who we were in our addiction,
it's about who we are in our recovery.
- Nice!
- Yeah!
- There it is.
- Look at that.
- Awesome.
- What'd you think? Six months ago
you were gonna be doing this?
- No. I know, this is awesome.
- Really got it.
- A little scraped up, but-
- One thing I think that's special about the Phoenix,
when people come here is that together you're kinda
looking out at the greater adversity of the rock climb
or the hike, and in that struggle, you build a bond.
- Very good.
- And in those bonds,
you find the support you need to stay sober.
It's kinda like getting out of a burning building, right?
Like there's some responsibility to reach back in
and help the next person out.
Because they remember what it was like
to have somebody there for them
when they first stepped into recovery.
- You can walk over to the right a little.
There you- Welp, not that way. Nope.
(laughing)
- Can you guys bring it in kinda tight?
One thing that I do every year is
I carry one little pebble with me
just sort of as a memory of folks we've lost.
If you have somebody you're thinking about today,
feel free to carry a pebble and we'll circle up
and talk about that a little bit after we go to the arch.
This whole trip really is kind of a gratitude trip
for these lives we get in recovery.
And I know a bunch of you guys picked up a little pebble
on the way up here,
and I always like to do that
just to hold in my heart those people that we lost.
My mom passed this year from Alzheimer's.
So this year...
(choking up)
This year, this one's for my mom.
This little, sweet woman who stuck with me
through my addiction.
She loved Phoenix.
She loved all you guys.
If anybody else brought a pebble up here,
and they wanna put it here,
and every year when we come visit here,
we can think of those folks.
- Todd and I?
- We're married.
A lot of our relationships start right here-
Phoenix has played a big role in that.
- Yeah, it introduced us to a way of life
that we could share, and that really our relationship
is founded on the adventure
that Phoenix showed us is possible.
- In 11 years, over 24,000 people have come to Phoenix.
The people we can touch with this,
the more people can sit around fires like this
in communities across the country.
(applause)
We as humans, all of us,
whether you struggle with addiction or not,
are trying to figure out how to connect
somewhere where we feel accepted and loved.
Imagine if, as a society,
we could help give that to each other.
It sounds like a lofty goal, but I don't think it is.
(all cheering)
- Nice work.
- Yeah!
- Nice!
(applause)
(uplifting music)
(cheering and applause)