“I've had people very close to me reach out for help, and I've directed them to CAMH and they've been there,” says Richard, adding that one of those friends just celebrated the anniversary of their first year of sobriety. “What No One Left Behind means to me is that every human being deserves every chance to get the help they need. If I can have an influence on someone, help them find what they are looking for, to get that help, since I am fortunate enough to still be here, I want to be of service to them.”
As hard as the battle has been for Richard, as close as he knows he came to losing everything he cared about, he is also acutely aware that he is one of the fortunate ones because his cries for help were answered.
He had realized his childhood dream of playing in the NHL , but alcohol was ruling his life and destroying him from the inside. A lot of his teammates saw what was happening to him. Some of the coaches did too and asked if he needed help.
“I have nothing but good things to say about the help I was offered, but until I was ready to receive that help, nothing anybody said was going to change that.”
He did go to rehab once, but he wasn’t ready and he left after four days.
He spent the next two years trying to hang on in the NHL while actively addicted to alcohol, but he knew it was unsustainable and he knew he was running out of time to turn his life around. There was no classic rock bottom moment. He just knew he was losing the battle bit by bit. He was ready.
He took a 16-hour non-stop journey with his brother Matt to a rehab facility that was recounted in vivid detail in the documentary. As the hours went by, the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal became increasingly acute. “He was crawling around in the back like a wild animal while I’m trying to keep the car on the road,” Matt recalled. He also couldn’t stop crying, telling his brother how sorry he was for having to see him like this.
He has been sober ever since.
