By Valerie Franchi, Contributing Writer
Northborough – John Golden is celebrating 10 years of sobriety in February. But he wouldn’t have come this far, he said, without the help of a TV show.
Golden was featured on season two of A&E’s award-wining show “Intervention” and has become one of its biggest success stories.
In 2006, at age 33, according to his wife Kim, Golden’s alcohol and drug addiction had reached a point at which his family decided to intervene.
“My sister was scared to death I was going to die,” Golden recalled. “I had become unemployable and was living at my father’s house.”
He said he started trying drugs and alcohol at around 12 years old because there was no structure at home.
“My sisters raised me,” he said.
Under the guise of shooting a documentary about addiction, Golden allowed a small camera crew to follow him around for a week.
“I was open about [my addiction] and thought I might help other people,” he said, adding that he was shocked when he realized that his family had arranged this to stage an intervention.
“I was upset and reluctantly agreed to go to rehab,” he said.
“My family set their bottom lines and it forced me to look at myself,” Golden said in an interview with A&E’s “Intervention: Recovery Spotlight.” “They weren’t going to enable me anymore, but it showed me just how much they cared about me and the lengths they were willing to go to get me sober.”
Golden was sent to a treatment center in Louisiana, a very different world than Braintree, where he grew up. He spent two years there, rebuilding his life from the ground up before returning home in 2008, when he was “strong enough to go back home.”
“It wasn’t easy,” Golden said. “The first few years were tough. The hard part is accepting help.”
He was able to find a stable job as data manager with an oncology research group where his sister is director, and as an added bonus, where he met Kim. They were married in 2011 and welcomed son Daniel in 2012. The family moved to Northborough in 2014 and Daniel attends preschool in the Northborough-Southborough school system.
Throughout the rehabilitation process, Golden has been able to reconnect with his family and surround himself “with a strong support system of friends and family and people of good character.”
“As long as I’m surrounded by people who support me, I can’t lose,” he said.
Golden freely admits that he would not be where he is without the help of “Intervention.”
“I had tried everything to get sober,” he said. “I would pour all my alcohol out, but it only lasted two or three days. The addiction was much more powerful.”
“The show has been an amazing journey for me,” he said in “Recovery Spotlight.” “I use the show when I visit local schools and it provides the students with a visual of my life pre- and post-intervention. Watching the show is a reminder to myself of where I was and where I never want to go back to.”
Golden wants to give back to the community the best way he knows how – by sharing his story. He regularly speaks at high schools, colleges, and family support groups about his experience and recovery.
He gave this advice to those who are struggling with addiction: “Be willing to make changes and sacrifices – and some of those won’t be easy – in order to maintain a meaningful recovery…Recovery is possible.”
To invite Golden to speak in your community, email [email protected].