The call to help others

WORLAND - On Wednesday, Oct. 13, Court McGee, professional mixed martial arts fighter, celebrated 5,660 days of recovery, more than 15 years.

McGee shared his story of addiction and struggles with recovery with Worland Middle School students in the morning and then to a good-sized community crowd that evening at Worland Middle School. He outlined how he got hooked on drugs, his struggles with recovery until he began his start into long-term recovery.

After many failed attempts he said he was once again living at home and, at the age of 21, he had snuck into his parents bedroom and took one of his father's beers.

He was sitting at the table and his father came in and saw him with the beer and he saw the disappointment in his father's eyes. He got into a program and was on his way to long-term recovery.

After sharing his story with members of the Worland area community, McGee opened it up to questions, answering fighting and celebrity questions as well as questions about his addiction and recovery.

Q&A

During his story, McGee had shared about a friend of his Brady Vega, who at one time during one of this failed recovery attempts offered him two Percocet pills, which he initially refused but later accepted. The same friend later asked McGee for help and when McGee arrived he found his friend "loaded" and realized he could not help him. He said in long-term recovery you cannot hang with people who are addicts. "I thought I was different. I could not help him," he said.

When asked what happened to his friend, McGee said that on his 6-year sobriety birthday he got a call from Brady Vega's mother notifying him that he had died of an accidental overdose.

"I spoke at his funeral like I did here tonight and she gave me his boots. The first about 150 engagements I did at high schools I wore Brady's boots. I talked about how great a person he was but how I could not help him."

Other questions were as follows:

•Do you have advice for parents?

"I was suggested to not give advice, just suggestions based on my own experiences. For me being honest and straight forward is the most important. But the experience I have had, not the tough love route but be honest. Be honest with them and be honest with yourself," McGee said.

He said if a parent is enabling a child such as providing a safe place to drink or use drugs because you feel it would be safer, that's not helping, that's not aiding them in finding their bottom.

"You're not going to get any tougher than me. I've fought with broken bones. You can't tough your way out of advice. You can't tough your way out of substance abuse. There is nothing you can do other than be honest," he said.

•Do you have advice for those in recovery?

"Don't give up five minutes before the miracle."

•What does recovery mean to you?

My recovery and the people I've surrounded myself in long-term recovery have given me everything of any value in my life - gratitude, empathy."

•What can a child tell a parent who is in recovery (asked by a young lady whose mother has been in recovery for five years)?

"Be grateful you had five years of her being sober. Tell her you love her, your proud of her and thank her for doing this. Just know she has to do this for her and not for you and not for a job."

•After 15 years of sobriety do you still have cravings or thoughts of using?

"It's a dim thought. I don't hang out in places where there is [drinking or drugs] unless I have a good business reason to be there like if I'm signing autographs and I go on good spiritual grounds, or I take someone from my recovery with me like [coach] Shane. I have someone who is safe with me."

He said when he has surgeries or is treated in the hospital he knows he cannot leave the hospital with pain pills so he has someone with him.

McGee said, "I have a process I follow. For me it's like making sure one day at a time that I stay on the path of recovery. I keep myself surrounded by people in long-term recovery. As long as I'm willing to give back I'm safe."

"There are times a thought 'a glass of wine [or beer] sounds really nice about now.'"

He said he asks himself, "'But if I drink this beer what will happen, one sip of a Long Island iced tea ended up with you in Iowa with no pants looking for meth four days later. Do you think it's worth it? Do you think it's worth losing your family? Do you think it's worth losing, the most important thing is my connection with my higher power?

"You can take my family, you can take my career, you can take all of my friends but you cannot take the relationship I have built with my higher power over the last 5,660 days.

"Being in this moment is the most important thing for me to do.

"The place where you're at might be your biggest opportunity. Someone in this audience may need to hear what I have to say, someone may hear something today that will change their life today."

•When discussing peer pressure, McGee told a story about turning down a joint from Snoop Dogg during his recovery, noting "If I can turn down a joint from Snoop Dogg you can turn down 'Timmy.'"