Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

Hells Angel Finds God at the Bottom of Bottle of Booze

Former Hells Angel Richie Kane, 52, says he found God after bottoming out on alcohol and now has a second chance at life.

For most of his years, Richie Kane struggled through a living hell of physical and sexual abuse, alcoholism and membership in one of the most notorious gangs in the country.

But now this former Hells Angel is empowered with a new force. Kane has chronicled his journey to a better life in a self-published book called “The Bronx Street Kid: Into 12-Step Recovery.” He sees it as a way for him to pass on the hope he has now embraced.

“God has been so kind to me,” he says, “allowed me the strength to come back.”

Now the New York native describes his vision of heaven, where God “rides a Harley” and there is “no hatred, no violence, there are no beatings, and you ride your motorcycle in the clouds. You don’t need gas!”

Kane smiles easily now. But for most of his 52 years, he kept his emotions bottled inside.

“I hated myself. I became cocky and (it was) tough to hide (my problems), because I felt really damaged when I was younger,” he said.

Kane survived an alcoholic father who regularly beat him. He says he was once abused with a pair of hedge clippers, causing his head to bleed so badly his pillow stuck to his bloody scalp. He was never taken to the hospital.

He also says that he was sexually molested by a stranger near the railroad tracks by his Bronx home — but never told his parents.

“I knew my father would blame me and beat me.”

Like father like son: Kane turned to the bottle. It was the only thing they shared.

He later became an even tougher guy, joining the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club because to him, it was the most prestigious — the best. “I was arrogant and full of drinking. It was all ego.”

But being tough was a way of shielding himself, he now says. “I said to myself nobody is ever going to do to me what was done to me as a kid. I’m not going to let anybody put their hands on me. I became a fighter.”

His real battle came after a rival gang’s members beat him and left him for dead. He was then thrown out of the Hell’s Angels because members thought him too rowdy, and said he made the gang look bad. His alcoholism got so bad it gave him the shakes. His health deteriorated even further, and he contracted Hepatitis C.

“I ran and hid in a bottle of booze because I didn’t know there was anything good in me. I asked God to show me the good in me.”

And, he says, God answered that prayer. Through Alcoholics Anonymous, meditation and looking to a higher power, Kane found strength to forgive his father, the man who molested him, and the men who tried to kill him.

“They never touched my core being. That’s where the light is. There’s a part of everybody that’s pure that nobody can get to you there.”

Kane is seriously considering going to college, perhaps to study journalism. He’s ready to explore new challenges for a new life, and new strength.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen (in the future), but I’m not afraid.”

source: Fox News

More Treatment & Detox Articles

Sleep problems persist, but there’s still hope for recovering alcoholics, new study finds

Sleep was an issue at the beginning for “Joe,” a recovering alcoholic from Evanston, but two years and nine months down the line, instead of drinking to pass out, he sleeps through the night. “Now it’s a pleasure to live. That’s what motivated me,” said Joe, who asked that his real name be withheld. Joe’s….

Binge drinking injures 500,000 annually

The habit of college students to over-indulge is no youthful prank, say health experts Universities and colleges are “missing the mark” in their fight against binge drinking on campus, which a new study says leads to 500,000 injuries in one year in the U.S. alone. The research suggests that blanket efforts, such as cutting down….

A Look at Opiate Overdose Treatment as the FDA Approves Naloxone

Opiate overdoses from heroin and prescription pain medications have reached epidemic proportions over the course of the last decade. According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, opiate-induced overdose deaths have increased from 4,030 in 1999 to 16,651 in 2010. For over three decades, emergency responders have used naloxone as an opiate overdose treatment….

The big problem – drugs and alcohol

I started needing alcohol in the morning to function “Generally, people don’t have a clear concept of what the treatment for drug addiction is … they come either with no expectations or with various expectations,” said Dan Wolf, psychologist and managing director of The Gap and First Step, two drug rehabilitation centres in Johannesburg. “People….

Aversion Therapy for Alcohol Addiction Treatment

Aversion therapy is a type of therapy that teaches an alcoholic to associate some type of negative outcome with getting drunk. Aversion therapy is a way of conditioning the recovering alcoholic to not like alcohol because of the negative effects that alcohol has on them thus breaking the cycle of addiction. Aversion therapy can be….