Recovery in Community

At age 13, Byron was already struggling with alcohol. He’d look for ways to steal his parents’ alcohol and his brother’s beer and cigarettes. Byron’s mom and dad attended Celebrate Recovery®on Friday evenings, and his mom sang in the choir during worship. While they were gone, Byron would invite his friends over to drink and party. By 17, while his peers were dreaming about their future and considering college and career choices, Byron was facing a DUI charge.

Despite all his troubles, Byron was an aspiring and talented musician. Byron’s mom set the example for him through her commitment to singing with the worship team at church. By the time he started college, Byron had mastered several instruments and began writing worship songs. Growing up in Saddleback Student Ministries, Byron had frequent opportunities to express his musical talents at church. When he was in his early 20s, he decided it was time to deal with his addiction and get help.

Byron raised money and checked himself into a Christian rehab center. After he finished rehab, he was asked to intern with Saddleback’s Worship Team. At the encouragement of one of the worship pastors, Byron enrolled in a local Bible college’s worship program, graduating in 2013.

Things seemed to be turning the corner for Byron. However, 2013 turned out to be the worst year of his life. Despite his internship providing him with a community and a place to enjoy his love for music, Byron was secretly still struggling with alcohol. In order to make ends meet and pay for college, he was bartending at a restaurant. He knew it wasn’t a good idea to work in such a tempting environment, but the pay was decent and he needed to support himself through school.

“I felt like such a hypocrite,” he said. “Serving in the worship ministry during the day, then drinking on the job bartending at night.”

Two months later, recently graduated with a degree in worship ministry, Byron was in a devastating car accident that would alter the course of his life forever. One night during his bartending shift, a friend was performing at a concert across the street. Byron ended up drinking with that friend at the concert and back at the bar. He was intoxicated by the time his shift was over. By then, his friend had taken his car keys. Byron had no choice but to catch a ride and get into the car with a co-worker, who was also drinking heavily on the job that evening.

At 1:00 AM, their car slammed into a tree, and the tree came down hard on the passenger side where Byron was seated. Firefighters had to use hydraulic rescue tools to pry open the car and get Byron out.

Byron was rushed to a hospital and suffered a severe brain injury. He remained unconscious for 12 days, then opened just one eye briefly and fell back into coma again for another 68 days. He stayed at the hospital for a total of 91 days. The medical team thought Byron was fortunate to be alive, as most patients who sustain this kind of injury eventually die. Even though Byron escaped the ultimate fate of death, the part of the brain that controls the right side of his body was damaged so badly that it paralyzed him.

Byron’s recovery is difficult. It took more than a year of daily physical, speech, and occupational therapy to get to where he is now — walking and talking. The first eight  months alone were dedicated to relearning how to stand up by himself. Byron moved in with his grandfather who kindly offered a place for him to concentrate on getting better and healthier.

After Byron was able to walk with a walker, he enrolled in a program at a community college designed specifically for brain-injury patients. This program was a God-send, as it provided Byron with additional skills to heal from a traumatic brain injury. With hard work and diligence, Byron finally got some normalcy back.

At the time of his car accident, Byron had no medical insurance at all. So his church family i stepped up and held a benefit concert to help Byron pay his costly medical bills. Byron remembers waking up from the hospital, and the first group of people he saw were his Saddleback worship family. Until this day, Byron is still deeply touched by how they cared for him — their acts of kindness, practicing what they preached without any judgement.

Even after the car accident and walking with Jesus every single day, the temptation to fall back into addiction are still a very big part of Byron’s life. He believes alcoholism is his lifelong demon to beat.

Because none of the rehabs or programs he has tried made any lasting impact on him, Byron decided to try Celebrate Recovery®(CR). He began attending CR meetings at least twice a week. Byron soon realized that CR was what had been missing in his life. The teachings and accountability community at CR are currently keeping Byron sober every day.

After being sober for five years, Byron was invited to speak at his former high school about the dangers and consequences of drinking and driving. He accepted the invitation and has returned to share three times. As a result of his sharing, Byron was invited to go work for a local nonprofit youth organization.

Since 2015, he has been working with the organization part-time, doing public motivational speaking to youth and their parents throughout Southern California schools and police stations. Byron tells kids and families the truth about the consequences of drinking and driving through the story of his accident and how to prevent the same thing from happening to them.

Reflecting on the past, Byron doesn’t wish a horrifying car accident like that on anyone. “But I do know that through it all, God has a purpose for what happened to me,” he said. “It’s been the most exciting, radical, fulfilling journey since my accident. I love traveling all over SoCal to tell families what happened to me. I love the question-and-answer time when I get to help them understand how bad drinking can be.”

Once a gifted musician, today Byron can’t play any instrument at all — but he treasures every little thing that God allowed him to keep, such as his voice. He’s been working at re-developing his guitar skills, and after 5 years of therapy and practice, he has just begun to be able to strum chords again. Byron has been recording his journey and shares his story of hope through his YouTube channel. As his motor functions and musical skills progress, he hopes to get return to performance level soon and play for a live audience.

Over the past 30 years at Saddleback, Byran has seen his church family rally around and celebrate his accomplishments and stand by his side through struggles. He developed life-changing relationships as an intern, when he had the privilege of learning under Rick Muchow and still maintains a close friendship with Rick and his family. Recently, he re-joined the Saddleback worship choir and is truly enjoying adding a bit of his love for music back into his life.

Byron prayed, “God, use me!” while on his hospital bed. He believes with all his heart that God has answered that prayer in big ways as well as small — and to Byron, it includes lifting his one, small voice in a big choir.

Learn more about Celebrate Recovery at saddleback.com/celebraterecovery

Learn more about volunteering with Saddleback Worship HERE.

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