Canadian Hero's Recovery Stories

Talk Recovery Radio

Guest 1: Nicholas Hennink Nicholas Hennink ('Henn-ink') is an Advanced Care Paramedic and Singer/Songwriter by both passion and vocation, known for his inspirational music that gives hope to those who need it the most. Nicholas also served as an advanced care paramedic for over a decade. His love of music began during his childhood, playing in bands and creating songs with his acoustic guitar in Cape Town, South Africa, where he was born and raised. Serving as an Advanced Care Paramedic Nicholas was diagnosed with severe PTSD, seeing things that can't be unseen, he used alcohol as a coping mechanism and was afflicted with alcohol addiction. Stemming over 6 years of relapses, rehab three times, and watching his life collapse around him, suicide was not far off. Keeping his daughter and fiancé front and center in his mind pushed him to heal, and use his gifts to help other people that still struggle. All of Nicholas' website/social media links https://linktr.ee/nicholashennink?fbc...​

Guest 2: Jeff Vircoe So, I'm Jeff Vircoe. Age 61. Born in Ottawa, raised an anglophone in Montreal, I have been out on Vancouver Island for 34 of my 60 years on the planet. I’m a father, a stepfather, a partner, a businessman and a man in long term recovery from substance addiction. I'm over 31 years clean today. I have solid Newfoundland and Australian ancestry, so I'm pretty complicated. Stubborn, silly, patriotic and non-judgmental most of the time. I can be pretty skeptical and sarcastic other times. I am a fledgling golfer, guitarist and bass player. I'm also a history buff, a voracious reader, and a pretty good cook. I am a political buff, love cats, omelets and the Boston Bruins. I am more likely to speak up than shut up. I believe in freedom of expression and the importance of telling the truth. I respect those who came before us. With a series of serendipitous events in 2006, I morphed into an addictions support staff member and then counsellor at Edgewood Treatment Centre, one of the country’s top addiction treatment facilities, for six more years. In 2012, I survived a quadruple bypass. For the next five years, I went on at Edgewood as editor of several different Edgewood Health Network publications. Over that period, I interviewed and wrote about staff and patients, and researched and wrote about programs and modalities from across the addictions spectrum. I have written hundreds of heart-warming and heart-breaking stories for newspapers and magazines across the country. News stories, business profiles, travel, entertainment, sports, courts and all points between, I have always tried to be a man of integrity, a storyteller armed with some zip and edginess. I've interviewed countless examples of the kinds of people who make life interesting for us all, and am richer for having met and shared them with my readers. Website: http://www.jeffvircoe.com/​ http://www.sendthewritemessage.com/​