You might have seen a guy around town wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with the words SOBER EH on a red maple leaf.
That's 43-year-old Doug Mathews of Collingwood. He's been sober since March 14, 2016 and proud of it.
"It was a rough couple of years before then. I was the only person who didn't know I was an alcoholic. I drank way too much and then I started using opioids on top of that. I was taking to 40 to 50 Robaxacet a day," he said.
Mathews said he wouldn't cry at a funeral, because he was self-medicated and didn't feel anything.
"Today when stuff happens today, I have to feel it. I can't kill those feelings with a drink or a drug."
Like many addicts, Mathews says his problems started with "childhood trauma" in an unhealthy family.
Mathews doesn't stay in touch with his family because of the "toxic" atmosphere. His brother, an addict, died recently. Mathews posted to his social media that he didn't know his brother like a brother.
The saving grace for Mathews is his wife of 20 years, Janet.
"If it wasn't for my wife Janet, I wouldn't be here today," he said.
On March 13, 2016, Mathews attempted suicide. At the time he was drinking and taking pills every single day. He said he'd been planning suicide for six months because he felt "useless." Mathews guzzled seven beers and took a butcher knife up to his bedroom.
"I was going to do it. There wasn't any doubt. I had the knife by my throat.
"My wife busted down the door, slapped the knife out of my hand and said 'How could you?'
"That's when I dropped to the floor. That was the first time I ever said 'I need help.'"
He went to a recovery meeting the next night. He said the recovery process was difficult. He isn't religious so he didn't have God to grasp onto and felt he didn't belong. However, he accomplished one year of sobriety.
Janet gave him a watch and a note that said "Time is the most important thing in life. How you choose to spend it is up to you. Your clock starts now."
When COVID hit, Mathews' recovery group shut down and he struggled. He wanted to provide service for others but didn't know what to do.
"My wife said, 'Why don't you start a sobriety podcast?'"
Mathews was interested but struggled to find people willing to break anonymity to discuss addiction. In Barrie, Mathews found people who were "recovering out loud."
So, he started the podcast Canadian Sober Eh? and called himself Dougie Fresh. His first show started with, "I'm Dougie Fresh and I'm an alcoholic."
He recorded the show from his home and interviewed one person per episode.
Because he was doing interviews on the Zoom platform, he found people from as far away as California recovering out loud.
"So I started spreading other people's experience, strength and hope through the podcast, even though they weren't Canadian," he said.
The podcast started on Buzzsprout and ended up on 19 electronic platforms. He completed four seasons.
In Season 3, he had a few people from town who agreed to tell their story because the audience was only hearing the guest's voice.
Mathews had the T-shirts made up and started wearing them all over town. One day, he met a woman working in a local store, who saw his T-shirt and asked to talk to him. She revealed that she was thinking of committing suicide. Mathews helped the young woman by setting her up with a recovery group.
"She told me, 'I'm sober today because you walked into that delicatessen wearing that T-shirt.'"
That was an "aha" moment for Mathews who felt he was finally making a difference. After that, he placed a large order for the T-shirts and started giving them to people reaching sobriety milestones. He spoke at treatment centres including Metamorphosis Centre for Change in Wasaga Beach. One of the women he met there came up to him and told him she's listened to every episode he's recorded.
"All these amazing things are happening in my life," he said, but he wanted to do more. "The more you give back, the more you receive."
During Season 2, he went in a Serendipity candle store with his wife. He noticed a candle called Papa's Pipe.
"When I smelled that candle, my grandfather smoked a pipe, I started crying, the hairs on my arms stood up. I had my first-ever spiritual experience. I kept seeing moments of my life, where I'd been in trouble and got out of it, flash before my eyes with my grandpa standing in every one.
"I walked out of that candle store feeling like I belonged in recovery. I now have this power that I can't explain," he said.
It's propelled him to do more and there's no time to waste.
"Mental health and addiction is skyrocketing. We are in a losing battle right now especially with Fentanyl," Matthew said.
Rogers personnel approached him about doing a TV show. He started Canadian Sober Eh? in December and he is close to completing the first season with 20 episodes, each featuring a single guest.
His first guest was broadcaster Joe Tilley. He's interviewed his first Collingwood guest. And his most famous guest was former NHL player Jim Thompson, who has been sober for 17 years.
"I believe a story can change a life," Mathews said.
We live in a society that shuns addicts and treats them like they are less than everyone else when they need to be accepted, said Mathews.
"My whole goal is to smash the stigma that people have against addiction."
Canadian Sober Eh runs on Rogers across Simcoe County multiple times a week. Episodes are also uploaded to YouTube.
