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It began with a heartbroken mother who found her voice after her beautiful, vibrant, blonde little girl, Ayla, became addicted to methamphetamine at the age of 22. With her world shattered, a grandmother left to raise her daughter’s two children, she didn’t want to wait until her daughter was dead to make a difference. She knew she had to be a voice against addiction, not just for Ayla, but for this community. She had a vision to start a 5k, a Run Against Addiction. This was never meant to be an ordinary race, not just another 5k, but a race with a purpose, a race to get our sons and daughters back, our families back and our community back.
Set in motion, Angie’s vision caught the attention of Brad Wilkerson, Chief Operating Officer of Legacy Freedom Treatment Centers in Charlotte. Brad is a Rutherford County native and four years clean from an addiction to methamphetamine. Though they grew up only miles apart, Brad had never met Angie or her daughter Ayla. What they share in common is a personal experience with the devastation of addiction, but what sets them apart is purpose.
Today, Ayla is 36 days clean. With the painful wounds of addiction still fresh and difficult to talk about, what she shared with me was a determination my words could never define. Ayla understands she has a purpose to help others. She is determined to stand with Brad and share her story at the Run Against Addiction, to continue her recovery, to fulfill her purpose, and I know she will. Some days are easier than others for Ayla, who is in rehab at Legacy Freedom, but what we are seeing is God bringing this dream He put in Angie’s heart full circle. On those tough days, it is Ayla’s two children that drive her to continue forward on this journey of recovery. There is power in a mother’s love; demonstrated first by her own mother who refused to watch her daughter succumb to the devastation of addiction, and behind Angie’s voice stands a community of people ready to make a difference.
For Brad, it has been four years since he walked the path of a newly recovering addict and found his purpose in the midst of pain. Brad vividly recalls one life-defining moment, flying first class to San Antonio, Texas to view a urinalysis lab for the treatment center he now runs. Sitting on that plane, Brad became overwhelmed by emotions as he realized four years ago to the very day, he sat, not as a first class passenger on a Boeing 757, but under a bridge on the side of a bypass ready to take his own life. In his worst days, God had a plan and a purpose for Brad’s life, to bring him to this day to mentor and be a help to others. Sitting under that bridge, Brad had lost a six-figure income, several cars, motorcycles, and so much more, but the hardest loss he had to face on the side of that bypass was losing his wife and three-year-old son. Four years later on that plane, he had so much to thank God for. This time, his wife and son would be waiting for him when he made his way back home. The choices that put him under that bridge were selfish choices, but as he glared out the window of that jet with tears flooding his face, he knew God’s grace was sufficient for him and for any other son or daughter facing addiction. He was on that plane because his choices were no longer selfish and he knew at that moment he would go through the pain again to save even one life.
If we filled the room in which we sat with 200 drug addicts, statistically, Ayla and Brad would be the only two success stories, the only two of those 200 who would overcome addiction. Very few people would have had the strength to get through Brad’s struggle and even less the determination that I seen in Ayla to walk the long road to recovery. Even rarer are those that seek God to find their purpose in life. This race is about changing those numbers. We will fight addiction in this community one son and daughter at a time. These are two success stories in two different walks of life out of many more to come as this community comes together to fight addiction. The voice of one heartbroken mother has already made a difference. Brad and Ayla both had to own their mistakes. Both came clean sitting in a jail cell, but what they have proven to us is invaluable. You may have to own what you’ve done, but it doesn’t have to be who you are.
For more information on the Run Against Addiction 5K and 1 Mile Fun Run, please call 828-748-3479.
