A Story of Redemption with Garrett Deetz

Garrett Deetz was told he had six months left, and he was still shooting dope in his arm. He told the story himself on the Buena Vista podcast in 2021, and it is worth hearing in his own voice.

Listen to Garrett's story as he turns away from his life of alcohol and dope

How it started

Born into a family of Marines, you would think he would be living a dream life. That is not how things went for Garrett. Introduced to alcohol and drugs at a young age, he left home and joined a gang.

On his 19th birthday, he recalls going to Arizona to meet a friend:

“Hey Bro, your birthday present is under a magazine on the coffee table. And uh… There’s not a lot of stuff that gets under a magazine on the coffee table. I thought it was money, honestly, and I lifted it up, (there was) a little line (of white powder).

Ok dude. I thought alright cool, we’re gonna do a little bit of coke, we’re gonna get drunk, we’re gonna get in trouble… And I snorted it, man, definitely not cocaine, you know what I mean. It burned way bad. Introduction to meth and I was instantly hooked.”

His life turned from drinking with one of the toughest gangs in California to a complete drug addiction. He found himself in and out of jail like a cycle.

The moment it changed

Weighing 140 pounds in 2015, he was jaundiced and could barely walk. He knew he was dying and he was still shooting dope in his arm. It was then he found out he had contracted Hepatitis B, C and E.

He was told, “You’ve got 6 months more to live so make the most of it.”

After hearing those words, it was his moment. He went back to jail and told himself he wanted to die high. A previous inmate came back to the yard looking healthy compared to the time he left, when he was desperate to get some dope. But this time, he brought the Big Book.

With just one reading, Garrett gave up his money, his dope and every bit of drug paraphernalia he had on him, and wanted to start living sober. The episode above is where he says what happened next, and how he got clean while carrying a disease that was supposed to kill him.

If this sounds like where you are

Garrett's story starts the way a lot of them do, with somebody who had been told there was no point trying. There usually is. If you are still using daily, medical detox is the safe first step and it happens in our Chandler building, with residential treatment in the same place afterwards. If meth is the substance, we have a page on what treatment for methamphetamine actually involves.

Nothing gets decided on a first phone call. You can ring and just start talking.