A Story of Redemption and Hope
A couple of weeks ago, students from 8-12 grade received a Substance Abuse Talk organized by the counseling department to raise awareness about this issue and to help us stay in touch with reality. This talk was given to us by Dr. Luis Fernandez Lau, who studied to be a surgeon at the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara. He talked to us about his experiences with drugs, addiction, and alcohol.
Dr. Luis Fernandez has battled with addiction since he was 15 years old. He is now 32 and has been sober for the last 5 years. He started the talk with his own experience, admitting that he was 15 when he smoked weed for the first time. He went on to do heroin and cocaine and continued living the life of an addict for 12 years.
Among the stories he told, the strongest was the time he had a chance to get out of this cycle one week before his birthday. He had run out of drugs two weeks before and had even gone through withdrawal, vowing not to buy again, but on the day of his birthday he gave in and the cycle started again. Later, due to complications, he had his arm amputated and that was his wake-up call. After this, he accepted he needed help and joined a rehab center. During the talk, he admitted that he knew something like this would happen and that he was aware this could happen anytime. His story is very inspirational and shows hope for the people that are battling addiction.
(The picture was posted on the St. Augustine School Instagram page to communicate the objectives of the talk to our community.)
While I was doing my research for this article I was able to find his own Instagram account, and I have to say it is incredible. It shows how much he has grown as a person and how he has gotten out of addiction. I really love his talks and the way he expresses himself. I recommend you follow him @dr.fernandezlau if you want to learn more about this topic and get inspired.
This is just one example of how inspiring his IG account is… He posts about his life and his struggles in a raw and real way. Screenshots taken from his account.