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One evening in the summer of '83 I went to a bar in Tucson, Az.. Being a Rodeo Cowboy, 25 years of age I thought that is where I was supposed to be if I wasn't in an arena riding bulls. This guy I was talking with was a nice guy and I had been dringking a pretty long time. He seemed concerned and offered to call me a Taxi instead of driving myself ome. The Taxi pulle up across the street from the bar and it was pretty late at night. I ran across the street to get in the Taxi and didn't quite make it. He was cited for bad brakes and bad lights and he got me good. I don't remember but they say I was thrown over the car about 30'. Ambulance transported me to University Hospital. When I woke up from the coma some 17 days later they began surgery. Then came physical therapy. After 5-6 months in the Hospital I was transferred to St. Mary's Rehab Unit for 60 days of speech therapy. I stayed with my Dad for a month in the boarding house where he lived. My sister paid for that month. I then wound up on the street. Alcohol and drugs became a need and that was all I lived for. That in combination with my brain trauma left me with no bodily coordination. My balance was so bad I could hardly walk. I knew something was wrong. On September 11, 1986 I decided I couldn't use drugs & alcohol any more. Between the DT's and the seizures I needed help. I went to the "lark" program at Gateway. It was basically a "drunk tank". After they dried me up they sent me to Crossroads Ranch in Nogales for a month. I really go dried out there and they sent me on to a halfway house in Wilcox. I stayed there for a half a year. It's a program that teaches you how to live sober. In the meantime I got on disability. An attorney I met at AA helped me with the process when he discovered that I was a survivor of a traumatic brain injury. Things were becomming normaland I saved a little bit of money to get back to Tucson and rented a small apartment. I went to daily AA meetings I started attending a Bridges Program helping me with my cognitive, speech, and physical problems. It had been a long trip but I faithfully went daily from 9-3 for counseling, rehab, and just plain encouragement. I have been sober ever since and paying my own way. I got married in November of '95 to my High School sweetheart and we have a 4 yr old son. I was a wild bull-ridin fool.