Haley Gustafson | Daily Press Brad Seavers, a professional off-road racer, speaks about his troubled past to a group of Escanaba Junior High students at the school in Escanaba recently. Seavers, a recovering drug and alcohol addict, participates annually in the Bark River Off-Road Races.

ESCANABA — A professional racer, who participates in the annual Bark River Off-Road Races, shared his troubled past and how he overcame it with Escanaba Junior and Senior High School students recently. He and his team will be featured at the Bark River Off-Roads on Aug. 10-12. Brad Seavers races Pro-Mod UTVs and someday hopes to race a Pro-Lit truck.

Seavers, a recovered drug addict and alcoholic, told the students that just because you come from a bad start, doesn’t mean it always has to be that way.

Seavers began using drugs at the young age of 13 and continued to use until his early 20s. On March 11, 1991, he decided to become clean and has been sober for 27 years.

Seavers attributed his drug and alcohol abuse to his home life, which was unstable as a young child. Seavers explained that he, his brother, and mother were beaten by his father, as he also suffered from alcoholism.

“We were afraid of him,” said Seavers. “By the time I was 12 or 13 years old, that fear of my father started to turn into anger.”

Seavers explained at first he thought the abusive lifestyle was normal, until he went to school and saw other kids wanting to do activities with their fathers. He then realized his home was not safe.

It was then Seavers turned to a bad group of friends who accepted him and made him feel important.

“It was some of the baddest people you can imagine,” said Seavers. The group did drugs and Seavers soon joined in the practice.

By the time Seavers was 14, he had suffered alcohol poisoning multiple times and was doing drugs daily.

He explained that the drugs helped him cope with the way he handled situations and the way he thought. The local police departments where he grew up knew of Seavers and were aware of his drug use, he added.

“I started to become very violent,” said Seavers.

School was difficult, except for a few teachers who knew Seavers’ situation, he explained, adding his relationships suffered as a result of the drug use.

At around 18 years old, Seavers said he tried to commit suicide for the first time, but was unsuccessful. There were other multiple attempts, he noted.

Soon after, he joined the U.S. Navy in hopes of cleaning up his life. The Navy realized he had issues and offered him help by sending him to drug and alcohol rehabilitation. Seavers said he grew angry and later quit.

A couple of months later at the age of 20, Seavers said he came home one day, drunk, and saw his mother sitting in the living room. She had tears rolling down her face and apologized for his way of life.

“She said ‘What is the thing you fear and most hate in life?’,” said Seavers, adding he replied the way his father was. “She looked at me and she goes you’re just like him…I’d become the thing I hate most.”

That night, Seavers said he called his local police department and entered a rehab program in March of 1991.

Completing the 28-day program, Seavers said he was on his own and had to try even harder to be a better person. He knew he needed something to subdue the urge to use and he found racing.

In racing, Seavers said he found a new family and a new lease on life. However, Seavers was in a severe accident in 2007 while practicing on his motorcycle.

He suffered temporary paralyzation as a result of the accident. He explained he overcame impossible odds and to this day, continues to race.

“I love every minute of it,” said Seavers.

Seavers’ father continues to overcome his addiction to alcohol and has been sober since November of 2017.