A Deadly Disease

A KELOLAND father says he was headed down a dark path, but thanks to Face It Together he now sees the light.

And now he's sharing his experience in hopes of helping others.

“If somebody else is in the same situation, I want them to know there is hope and there is help when you hit rock bottom.  You can't go any farther, you can only build yourself up from there and there is help out there," Tadd Danish said.

Danish spends much of his time at work now nurturing plants, but just a few years ago, his activities were anything but nurturing.  He started on pain killers to help ease the pain of injuries. Soon, he was addicted.

"I started telling lies, a lot of lying to my family, my friends, lying to myself that I didn't have a problem," Danish said.

Danish found himself wanting more and more OxyContin, a powerful prescription pain killer.

He says the drug would give him a high that seemed to make all of life's problems disappear, but those problems came back and were compounded as soon as the high was gone. That started a vicious cycle that spiraled Danish into the dark.

"I wanted to lock myself in my room in my basement, completely dark.  I didn't want to be around anybody.  I didn't want to face somebody.  There were times where I just wanted to give up," Danish said.

The powerful pills continued to grip Danish and his life.  He says he hit rock bottom before deciding it was time to get help.  Without that help, he admits there was just one outcome.

“Probably dead, as much as I was taking, it would have eventually led to my death," Danish said.

Today, Danish is leading a much brighter life.  He says it wouldn't have been possible without the help he found through Face It Together. 

The organization helped give him a new perspective on life and he started to make a quick turnaround.

"I knew there was a future out there and everything is brighter. I'm high on life now and it's awesome," Danish said.

Danish says he wishes a program like Face It Together would have been around in Sioux Falls five or six years ago.  But now, he has a full system of support.

And he has his life back.

"I've got wonderful support from Shelly and all the gals at Face It Together. My children are the love of my life. I'm doing it for them. It feels so great to prove to them that Daddy's back, Daddy is where he should be. I have a wonderful wife, a wonderful mother and sister and friends for support.  I couldn't ask for anything better in my life right now," Danish said.

A life that would have ended, but instead, he's on the right path thanks to support found in just the knick of time.