Back from Broken

The season ends with Vic Vela coming to terms with one of the biggest health scares of his life, while also navigating an emotional, historic championship run for his beloved Denver Nuggets. Over the last few months Vic recorded audio diaries of his experiences. He shares some of his best and worst days as he copes with a health crisis that nearly took his life — along with edge-of-your seat playoff basketball musings — all while trying to stay sober and taking things one day at a time. You can also check out Vic’s original memoir episode [https://www.cpr.org/podcast-episode/ep-4-vics-story/] from Season 1. Back From Broken is a show about how we are all broken sometimes, and how we need help from time to time. If you’re struggling, you can find a list of resources at BackFromBroken.org [http://backfrombroken.org/]. Host: Vic Vela Lead producer: Jo Erickson Editor: Erin Jones Mixed by: Kibwe Cooper Additional editorial support: Rebekah Romberg, Emily Williams, Andrew Villegas Music: Daniel Mescher and Brad Turner with additional music from Universal Production Music Executive producers: Brad Turner, Kevin Dale Thanks also to Rachel Estabrook, Hart van Denburg, Jodi Gersh, Clara Shelton, Arielle Wilson, Kim Nguyen. BackFromBroken.org [http://backfrombroken.org/] On Twitter: @VicVela1

Matthew Fisher always felt like an outsider. He struggled to make friends and was overcome by mood swings. By age 13, he turned to drugs and alcohol to cope. His father, Steven, watched from the sidelines, desperately trying to help his son. This is the story of how a father and son found recovery and healed their rocky relationship. Back From Broken is a show about how we are all broken sometimes, and how we need help from time to time. If you’re struggling, you can find a list of resources at BackFromBroken.org [http://backfrombroken.org/]. Host: Vic Vela Lead producer: Rebekah Romberg Editor: Jo Erickson Additional editorial support: Erin Jones, Kibwe Cooper, Emily Williams, Andrew Villegas Music: Daniel Mescher and Brad Turner with additional music from Universal Production Music Executive producers: Brad Turner, Kevin Dale Thanks also to Rachel Estabrook, Hart van Denburg, Jodi Gersh, Clara Shelton, Arielle Wilson, Kim Nguyen. BackFromBroken.org [http://backfrombroken.org/] On Twitter: @VicVela1

Khadi Oluwatoyin was always a high achiever. She excelled in law school and got her dream job, as a lawyer in New York City, in her early twenties. Racial and gender barriers didn’t stop her. Nothing stood in the way of her career, except alcohol. But when Khadi sought help for her drinking, she often found she was the only Black woman in the room. So she created her own recovery group for Black women and nonbinary folks to help others — and herself — through recovery. Back From Broken is a show about how we are all broken sometimes, and how we need help from time to time. If you’re struggling, you can find a list of resources at BackFromBroken.org [http://backfrombroken.org/]. Host: Vic Vela Lead producer: Emily Williams Editor: Jo Erickson Mixed by: Kibwe Cooper Additional editorial support: Erin Jones, Rebekah Romberg, Andrew Villegas Music: Daniel Mescher and Brad Turner with additional music from Universal Production Music Executive producers: Brad Turner, Kevin Dale Thanks also to Rachel Estabrook, Hart van Denburg, Jodi Gersh, Clara Shelton, Arielle Wilson, Kim Nguyen. BackFromBroken.org [http://backfrombroken.org/] On Twitter: @VicVela1

Aaron Taylor was a standout athlete at the University of Notre Dame. He went on to become a Super Bowl champion with the Green Bay Packers. But behind all that success, Aaron was a high-functioning alcoholic. After an injury ended his career, Aaron had to come to terms with his addiction and heal the childhood trauma he had never addressed. Back From Broken is a show about how we are all broken sometimes, and how we need help from time to time. If you’re struggling, you can find a list of resources at BackFromBroken.org [http://backfrombroken.org/]. Host: Vic Vela Lead producer: Kibwe Cooper Editor: Rebekah Romberg Additional editorial support: Jo Erickson, Erin Jones, Emily Williams, Andrew Villegas Music: Daniel Mescher and Brad Turner with additional music from Universal Production Music Executive producers: Brad Turner, Kevin Dale Thanks also to Rachel Estabrook, Hart van Denburg, Jodi Gersh, Clara Shelton, Arielle Wilson, Kim Nguyen. BackFromBroken.org [http://backfrombroken.org/] On Twitter: @VicVela1

Pebe Sebert's dreams of becoming a professional songwriter started coming true when Dolly Parton recorded one of her songs and it became a hit. But Pebe felt like a fish out of water, and she used alcohol to deal with those feelings. Other drugs came into the mix, too. But after she had her daughter Kesha, Pebe knew something had to change -- and years later, Kesha became the pop star Pebe always dreamed of being. Back From Broken is a show about how we are all broken sometimes, and how we need help from time to time. If you’re struggling, you can find a list of resources at BackFromBroken.org [http://backfrombroken.org/]. Host: Vic Vela Lead producer: Emily Williams Editor: Erin Jones Additional editorial support: Jo Erickson, Rebekah Romberg, Kibwe Cooper, Andrew Villegas Music: Daniel Mescher and Brad Turner with additional music from Universal Production Music Executive producers: Brad Turner, Kevin Dale Thanks also to Rachel Estabrook, Hart van Denburg, Jodi Gersh, Clara Shelton, Arielle Wilson, Kim Nguyen. BackFromBroken.org [http://backfrombroken.org/] On Twitter: @VicVela1