Arthur’s Story

Married and a father to two children in his 20s, Arthur’s life changed once he used heroin for the first time. His personal stability gone, he went on a self-described “path of destruction” for the next 12 years.

His substance use sprouted from his decision to begin selling narcotics to bring in more money for his family, a decision that would impact his life than he could have imagined.

“I had a wife and two kids that I was taking care of and I decided that I wanted to sell a little bit of dope,” Arthur admits. “Then I ended up getting high on my own supply and my life just spiraled out of control. I ended up going to prison two times.”

With each passing year, Arthur’s family tried to help him get sober. Repeated attempts at treatment continued to fail for a decade until Arthur nearly died using heroin on the same day he got out of prison. The EMTs tending to him had already called his mother to inform her that her son had passed away from an overdose. After five Narcans, a medication used to reverse opioid overdoes, he showed no signs of recovery.

Then as the EMTs were about to pronounce Arthur’s time of death, he woke up in the back of the ambulance. “I just woke up in the back of an ambulance and the paramedic was kind of freaked out,” Arthur says. “I was all out of options and I was just wondering out on the streets like a lost dog.”

After this near-death experience, which was not his first nor would it be his last in his recovery, Arthur went to stay with his mother for the night. She had a heart-to-heart conversation with Arthur and asked him “when is it going to be enough and when are you going to learn?” Then she told Arthur about a family friend who worked at Corazón Ministries, a United Way Safety Net Impact Partner, who could provide detox treatment to help Arthur regain control of his life.

The road to recovery is never easy for individuals and families dealing with substance use. That is why United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County invests in programs that provide a safety net of services to meet the immediate needs of people in crisis. The United Way Safety Net Impact Area powers resources that help end the cycle of addiction and regain stability, while also providing safe housing, food services and other essential needs.

With this support, Arthur spent the next several months sober after 14 days of detox treatment. He filled his days by volunteering at Corazón Ministries, giving back to the organization that had helped him get back on his feet. He had newfound satisfaction in showing new patients arriving at Corazón Ministries that he was living proof that anyone can beat addiction.

Unfortunately, the path to recovery is not a straight line. In October 2023, Arthur relapsed on meth. “I let myself down, I let the people here down,” Arthur confesses. “That relapse in October is what really did it for me, it was three times worse than anything before.”

During this relapse, he would go onto overdose four times in just one month. Two of the overdoses he admits were on purpose. Arthur was now fighting for his life, overdosing while also dealing with a bad case of ammonia, on a set of train tracks downtown.

“I ended up at the tracks by Haven for Hope and I don’t know how I didn’t get hit by a train,” he says. He would spend the entire night stranded on those tracks until someone discovered him unconscious on the train tracks at 6 a.m.

Arthur finally had an answer for his mother. Finally, it was enough for him. This time his recovery had to be different.

“This time, I actually put God first and put the same effort and energy that I put into getting high into this,” Arthur said. “I came back to Corazón and told them, ‘I’m ready’ and I will never forget that Brittney there told me ‘you’re different this time’”.

Arthur went through two months of inpatient treatment then two months of intensive outpatient treatment before transitioning into a sober living environment. It has been over a year since Arthur last used. Today he has a part-time job, is working on regaining his driver’s license, receives legal aid and volunteers daily at Corazón Ministries.

“I am not going to forget where I come from,” Arthur says about the support he received to get sober. “It’s not just getting me into detox, treatment or sober living. They stayed with me every step of the way.”

Showing others dealing with addiction that they can change their lives for the better like he did motivates Arthur to stay clean. “I do it to show these people that it’s possible. Sharing my lived experience with them, telling them that recovery is possible and that there is hope, it’s an amazing feeling and that’s my calling.”

With support, Arthur is now able to answer his life’s calling to show others that overcoming substance use is possible.