Accompany Daughter from Drug Addiction to Recovery

(Interviews of the same story are available at 故事切入點 podcast, 6/8/24, 6/15/24)

He is a father.

Like many fathers, he deeply loved his precious daughter. He watched her grow up, excel in school, and look forward to a promising future.

However, in 2015, when she entered eleventh grade, she began using drugs and gradually descended into the abyss of addiction. She did not abuse just one substance but engaged in polysubstance use, including marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine, and alcohol. To this day, her father still does not know what led her down that path. As a father, his heart was shattered.

He believed it was his responsibility to protect his daughter. He was convinced that if he remained vigilant enough, persistent enough, and worked hard enough, he could stop her from using drugs. He tried to play the role of an FBI agent. When she was away from home, he searched through her room for evidence of drug use. When she went out, he followed her in his car, trying to find out who she was associating with and how she obtained drugs. He wanted to build a wall between his daughter and addiction. But all of this only left him physically and emotionally exhausted.

His daughter continued using drugs and even brought friends who used drugs into their home. At the same time, she suffered from severe mental illness. Although she was willing to receive psychiatric treatment and take her medications as prescribed, she never stopped using drugs. The interaction between psychiatric medications and illicit substances caused tremendous harm to both her mind and body.

On one occasion, during a psychiatric episode, she completely lost emotional control. She threw a liquor bottle at her father’s face, knocking out two of his front teeth. She then forced her mother’s head into a toilet. When her older sister tried to intervene, she was pinned to the bathroom floor and unable to move.

Faced with a situation that had spiraled beyond control, the father had no choice but to call the police. When the officers arrived, it took three large male officers working together to restrain her. The police asked whether he wanted to press charges against his daughter or have her transported to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation and treatment. He chose the latter.

At that moment, he felt overwhelmed with anger, disappointment, helplessness, and heartbreak. He could not understand how the daughter he loved so dearly had become this person.

This scene did not happen just once. It became a recurring nightmare over the next three years. During that time, his daughter attempted to end her life at least three times. Once, she slit her wrists. Another time, she tried to overdose on medication. In addition, she was rushed to the emergency room multiple times due to drug overdoses. Every time the phone rang, her parents never knew what news awaited them. Every trip to the hospital carried the fear that it might be the last time they would see their daughter alive.

In November 2019, while living in an apartment in San Diego, the daughter experienced a severe drug overdose and was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.

Following that incident, her deteriorating psychiatric condition led to her admission to an acute psychiatric unit, where she remained for four months.

Throughout those four months, her parents never stopped caring about her. During Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day, they repeatedly visited the hospital, hoping to spend the holidays with her and rebuild their relationship. Yet every visit ended in heartbreak: She refused to see them.

Then came February 28, 2020.

That day, the father received a call from his daughter’s attending psychiatrist. The doctor informed him that the hospital considered her condition stable enough for discharge and could no longer keep her hospitalized indefinitely. A decision had to be made immediately. The choices were simple, yet cruel: Either he would travel to San Diego and bring his daughter home, or the hospital would discharge her to a homeless shelter.

Over the previous several years, he had faced similar situations. During hospitalization, his daughter always appeared to stabilize. But once discharged, drugs, mental illness, and a chaotic lifestyle would quickly pull her back into darkness. The cycle repeated itself.

He knew she was still incapable of living independently. Bringing her home could mean reliving years of nightmares. Yet allowing her to be discharged to a shelter felt equally unbearable.

Never before had he felt so helpless. He knew the decision he was about to make could shape the rest of his daughter’s life. Then, just two minutes before he made his decision, something unexpected happened.

A hospital social worker received notice that a long-term rehabilitation facility had just opened a bed and was willing to accept his daughter. The social worker immediately informed the psychiatrist, who then called the father.

What had seemed like a choice between only two painful options suddenly became three. To the father, it felt like a miracle. Had that bed not become available at that exact moment, had that phone call come only a few minutes later, he likely would have made a different decision, and his daughter’s life might have taken a much darker path.

During the fourteen months the daughter spent in long-term treatment and rehabilitation, her life began to change. It was as though God’s hand was at work in her life. She developed a desire to return to school and complete her education. By then, she had been using drugs for five years and had been out of school for a long time. Years of substance abuse had impaired her concentration, memory, and ability to learn. Tasks that many people considered routine became major challenges for her.

She started at a community college and slowly rebuilt her academic foundation. Because the rehabilitation facility was strictly managed, every day before class she had to locate a supervisor and ask them to unlock a designated room so she could attend her online courses.

As the semester drew to a close, she was preparing intensely for final exams.

The day before her finals began, her father was rushed to the hospital with a blocked coronary artery and underwent a stent placement procedure. Although his doctors recommended that he remain hospitalized for three days of observation, he discharged himself the very next day because he was worried about his daughter. Despite being hundreds of miles apart, he joined her through video calls and helped her review for her exams.

In the end, she completed the semester with straight A’s and earned multiple scholarships, including the Eli Lilly Reintegration Scholarship for individuals recovering from mental illness.

Time moved forward to April 10, 2021.

By then, his daughter had been living in the rehabilitation facility for over a year. The court was preparing to review whether her conservatorship would continue and what her future living arrangements should be.

The father struggled deeply with the decision. He longed for his daughter’s recovery, yet knew her journey was not finished.

During that season, he felt as though God spoke to him during prayer:

“If your daughter needs another five years to be healed, would you be willing?”

He sat silently for a long time. Finally, his answer came:

“As long as You walk with me, I am willing.”

At that moment, he realized that healing was happening not only in his daughter, but also in himself.

The wounds accumulated through years of fear, anger, disappointment, helplessness, and heartbreak began to loosen their grip on his heart. Whether his daughter achieved complete recovery was no longer his only source of hope.

He learned to entrust her to God, and to accept what he could not control.

Yet that did not mean fear disappeared. He cried out to God:

“I can’t do this. I don’t have the strength.”

And he sensed the response: “You may not have the strength, but do you know where to find it?”

Many friends advised him not to bring his daughter home. He himself was scared. He did not know whether she would relapse or whether he could survive another storm.

As he prayed, he felt God saying: “I have repaired this broken vessel. Now I am placing her back into your hands. Are you willing to receive her?”

Setting aside his hesitation, he made a decision that many people opposed. Calmly and firmly, he answered: “We are bringing her home.”

At that moment, he did not know what the future held. But he knew he was no longer relying on his own strength.

The father knew this was God’s promise to him. With the support and companionship of staff from the Dawn Light Fellowship, he and his daughter began rebuilding their relationship.

After returning home, his daughter no longer experienced the violent emotional outbursts that had once turned the household upside down. Yet recovery was far from a smooth journey.

On one occasion, after attending a party, she encountered drugs again and relapsed on methamphetamine. That night, she did not come home and could not be reached.

When she finally returned, her father was neither angry nor condemning.

He chose to love her with unconditional love while still holding her accountable for her actions. Calmly, he said to her: “You crossed a boundary, and there are consequences because of it. How do you plan to deal with this? I believe you are capable of making a good choice.”

Upon hearing this, she was filled with remorse and burst into tears.

Her father suggested that the next time she attended a party, she should learn to refuse drugs.

She answered honestly: “In that kind of environment, I can’t.”

After thinking it through, she made an important decision: She would stop attending those parties altogether.

That day, she not only rejected drugs—she learned to avoid the environments that caused her to stumble. Once again, she got back up.

Since his daughter’s illness and drug use began, the father had faithfully attended family support groups through the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). He never stopped participating in meetings at Dawn Light Fellowship. He also consulted with numerous psychiatrists and therapists, read extensively about addiction and mental illness, and received one-on-one support through Stephen Ministry.

Through this process, he gradually learned to accept his daughter unconditionally, to wait, and to establish healthy boundaries.

The father came to understand that overcoming addiction involves far more than simply removing drugs from a person’s life. Healthy relationships, meaningful work, and a renewed sense of purpose must take their place so that life can regain direction and meaning.

Because his daughter had loved animals since childhood, the two of them searched online together and discovered WAG.com, a platform that provides dog-walking and pet-care services. Between June and September of 2021, his daughter began accepting dog-walking assignments, while her father drove her to and from clients’ homes.

During those drives, they talked about the dogs she met each day, laughed about their unique personalities, and gradually opened their hearts to one another. They shared their feelings and inner struggles.

What began as simple car rides to dog-walking jobs became some of the most precious moments in rebuilding their relationship. Conversation by conversation, trust that had long been lost was slowly restored, and the bond between father and daughter grew stronger each day.

In September 2021, his daughter began studying Pilates and earned her instructor certification six months later.

Through interacting with her Pilates clients, she developed stronger communication skills. She learned how to listen, care for others, and encourage them. As a result, she became more mature and confident.

She taught approximately twenty hours of Pilates classes each week.

As her life gradually returned to stability, the sense of accomplishment she gained from meaningful work replaced the temporary comfort that drugs had once provided. Her values became increasingly healthy and positive.

At home, she frequently prepared dinner for the family, cooking three or four meals a week—often consisting of three or four dishes and a soup.

Beyond work, she also volunteered with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), serving as a coordinator. Having personally walked through the valley of mental illness and addiction, she possessed a deep empathy for those who were suffering and became a source of hope and encouragement to many families.

She received multiple scholarships, allowing her to attend college tuition-free. In 2024, she entered Stanford University to pursue a master’s degree.

As he accompanied his daughter through addiction and recovery, the father gradually came to understand that recovery is not a simple matter of beginning and ending. It is a lifelong journey. He came to view the process in three stages: Using Drugs. Recovering. Living in recovery. Recovery never truly reaches a final destination. Addiction can resurface. His daughter could stumble again.

Yet he no longer fell into despair as he once had, because he knew that every time a person rises after falling, maturity grows deeper.

More importantly, he came to understand that behind addiction there is often profound pain.

The father met a young woman who had once been addicted to heroin.

She shared that when she was a child, her mother would gently tuck her into bed each night, sit beside her, and softly pat her until she fell asleep. Those moments made her feel warm, safe, and loved. When she used heroin, she said, she experienced the same feeling of warmth and comfort.

Her story deeply moved the father and gave him a greater understanding of the inner struggles of those battling addiction.

He began to realize that when we understand why a person uses drugs and what role those substances play in their life, it becomes easier to respond with empathy rather than criticism and blame.

Throughout the journey of his daughter’s recovery, the father himself became increasingly compassionate and accepting. His daughter, meanwhile, slowly but steadily broke free from the chains of addiction and rebuilt her life.

Looking back on the journey, his heart is filled with gratitude. He firmly believes that every step—from the darkest depths to the hope they experience today—has been marked by God’s grace.

As the hymn proclaims:

“How Great Thou Art!”

Epilogue

As these words are being written, it is close to Father’s Day in 2026.

Just two months ago, his daughter completed her master’s degree at Stanford University.

After graduation, she joined a robotics startup in Silicon Valley as the company’s first employee and Founding Engineer.

At the end of May, she represented her company at an international humanoid robotics conference in Tokyo, where she exchanged ideas with researchers, engineers, and industry leaders from around the world about the latest technological developments and future trends.

It is hard to imagine that this same young woman—who once cycled in and out of hospitals because of addiction and mental illness—now stands on the international stage discussing the future of technology alongside some of the world’s leading robotics experts.

The father understands that recovery is not a straight path. It is a journey filled with setbacks, struggles, tears, and grace. Yet he has personally witnessed one profound truth:

As long as there is life, there is always hope.