Jode Sprague:
All my life, I've been a long distance runner. In 2002, I was selected as one of the eight police officers from across the country and we were the security for the Olympic torch. We were in 46 states in 65 days. I ran a total of 960 miles in 65 days. Now I have my own little farm and raising animals and crops and stuff like that. We're going to be doing the vegetables for the farmer's markets. I grew up in a law enforcement family. My dad's a retired policeman, my grandfather. I grew up in that culture where men handle their own problems, men don't cry, and you just tough it out. And I decided that it would be easier to self-medicate and use alcohol because that's what I'd seen my dad do during tough times. And so it kind of started off from there and it just progressively got worse, the drinking.
They actually had to use the paddles on me to bring me back. I was that far gone. So I ended up in the hospital in intensive care for a couple days and I was so angry. When the doctor came in to talk to me, I told him, "I knew how to answer his questions and play the game. And as soon as I was able to, I'd get out and kill myself." And he just said, "Really?" And the next thing I knew, I was being transported by an ambulance to a psychiatric facility. And that's where I ended up. I remember they said that there was an AA meeting and at the AA meeting, they served coffee with caffeine because in a psychiatric ward, they won't give you any caffeine. So I'm like, "Oh, I'll go to the meeting if I can have coffee with caffeine."
So I went there and I remember hearing somebody talk, not a policeman or a fireman, but talk about their experience and strength and hope. And I thought maybe that's something I could try. And I remember going back to the room in the locked facility and I was thinking about all the mistakes and all the things I'd done in my life. And I got down on my knees in that room and I said, "You know what, Lord?" I said, "I am not doing a good job with this. I'm going to turn this all over to you, and if you really exist, we will move forward from here." I don't know, I felt like there was hope.
Here comes Chief Whitman, chief of Police and John Lamb, the deputy chief, and they were both in jeans and they were both in t-shirts. And the first thing they did was each one walked up to me and put their arms around me and gave me a hug and said, "Hey, it's going to be all right. You're part of our family. We're going to get you through this." If I'm really stressed about something, I talk to somebody about it. And it's not a sign of weakness. It's a sign of someone that recognizes there's a problem and deals with it instead of just, "I'll deal with that later," you know what I mean?