Tim Ryan had a successful life, then lost it all because of an addiction to heroin, cocaine, other drugs and alcohol.

For years, Tim had great success in business and in life, despite a habit that was forming around “drinking and drugging.” But when he added heroin to the mix, Tim’s balancing act spiraled out of control. Often spending nearly $500 a day to support his opiate habit, his career and relationships suffered setback after setback.

Sentenced to seven years in the Sheridan Correctional Center for a number of drug-related convictions, Tim got clean and sober behind bars. However, “life on the outside” wasn’t working in his favor.

His wife divorced him. His son Nick, who he had introduced to heroin along with his teenage friends, continued to abuse the drug, caught in a seemingly hopeless trap. Six months after Tim was released from prison his son Nick died tragically from a heroin overdose.

Tim used Nick’s death as the inspiration to spread a message of hope and recovery to others, believing that if even one family could be spared the horrors of the disease of addiction, he would be making a difference. Today, in addition to running addicton recovery groups for addicts and families, Tim is the Chief Marketing Officer for Banyan Treatment Centers. He frequently speaks to school groups, corporations and others who care to hear his message. Most importantly, he is the founder of A Man in Recovery Foundation.