Recovering Addict Shares Story With Local Students

Todd Crandell
Todd Crandell

With sobriety, anything is possible. That’s the message addict turned triathlete Todd Crandell is sharing with students in Starke and Marshall Counties during Red Ribbon Week. He first tried alcohol when he was 13. Crandall says his life was” normal on the outside” but he was pretty emotionally distraught due to his Mom’s suicide 10 years earlier due to her struggles with addiction.

“I had a giant void that I was looking for something to fill it with, and unfortunately trying alcohol at age 13 was the catalyst for the next 13 years of destruction,” Crandall said.

He says he used “anything I could get my hands on” to try to numb the pain.

“At the height of my addiction it was two fifths of whiskey a day, three or four grams of cocaine a day, severe liver damage, emotional problems, financial problems, spirituality problems, loss of family, jails, institutions. It’s everything that comes along with drug addiction,” Crandall added.

He will share his story with students at North Judson-San Pierre Schools today. Crandall has already spoken this week at Knox, Oregon-Davis and at Plymouth, Triton and LaVille and will share his story with the public Monday evening at LifePlex in Plymouth. Visit his website, www.racingforrecovery.org for more information.