from Dan Fumano of the Calgary Herald,

Before Brady Leavold’s life took a nightmarish turn, he had the same dream as a lot of Canadian kids. Now he has a new dream.

Leavold grew up in Port Coquitlam wanting to be a hockey player and made it to the mid-level pro leagues.

But his career was derailed by escalating drug use as he attempted to numb secret pain. Within a few years, the once-promising right winger went from skating alongside future NHL all-stars to sleeping in tents and alleys in the Downtown Eastside, robbing people to support his worsening dependence on a deadly drug that had just hit the streets.

He was injecting fentanyl a dozen times a day, no longer wanting to live. Now, at age 34, he figures the only thing that stopped him from dying was jail.

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