Game, Set, Recovery: Jethro’s Story 

June – August 2025

Recovery Story: Jethro

"Instead, when he got home, she did not recognise him."

 

Being incarcerated is one of the hardest things a person can go through. While it takes a toll on their loved one(s), it takes an even bigger toll on the person serving the sentence. There’s pain, isolation, boredom, depression and anxiety – the list could go on forever, but you get the point.  

These emotions and feelings sometimes lead to time feeling like it’s come to a standstill, and the monotony makes you feel like your day of release may never come.  

Eventually, it does, and as the staff process your release and return the belongings you were arrested with, a decision needs to be made: Are you going to use the experience as motivation to make a change? Or are you going to submit, crumble, and revert to the lifestyle pre-incarceration? 

For Jethro, the decision was clear as day. To supplement his newfound resilience from incarceration, he had the unconditional support of his family, who had visited him consistently throughout his two stints in DRC.  

By the end of day that he was released from DRC, that resilience was tested.  

After spending a full 9 months away from his newborn daughter, reuniting with her was one of the things he was looking forward to the most.  

Instead, when he got home, she did not recognise him. The psychoeducation classes he attended while in DRC had equipped him with tools to handle stressors after his release – he just never expected to have to use them so soon. 

It was at that moment that Jethro realised this was bigger than him. He didn’t need to get his life back on track just for himself. He needed to get things together for his family. 

With so much fuel for motivation, making the necessary changes to succeed in recovery seemed easy. They were drastic and hard, but those around him kept him honest and focused. 

When someone gets into recovery, major changes in life need to be made. There are some non-negotiables, and one’s success in recovery is largely dependent on his or her ability and willingness to make those changes. One of the changes Jethro made was to take himself off social media. 

Considering how almost every aspect of our lives exists virtually, it was shocking for me to hear — more so from someone in his early twenties. By removing social media from the equation, he’s removed a boatload of triggers: reminders of the lifestyle that led him to drugs, reminders of the “fun” his old circle of friends still have, and the inevitable social comparison that social media brings about. 

He’s not bothered by what his friends are up to. The only thing he’s focused on is his recovery and loved ones — the things that matter. 

Throughout the time we spoke, it was clear to me how much he cherishes his relationship with his loved ones. Through constant, open communication, he’s managed to rebuild the bridges that were once burnt. 

He lets his wife, his counsellor Roy, or his SAFE buddy, Joylis, know when he’s triggered or when he’s feeling a little off, and they almost always help to alleviate the pressure. They've been big pillars of support, and he gushes as he tells me how grateful he is to have such a strong support system to rely on. 

Recovery takes a village, and self-will will never cut it.  

After years of operating on sheer self-will, he knows that it’s a recipe for disaster. He tried it after his first DRC sentence, and while it worked for about a year, it still ended in a relapse and subsequently a second stint in DRC. 

These are just some of the changes he’s implemented to strengthen his recovery. Thoughts of the good times he used to have come sporadically, but he’s learned to manage those thoughts when they surface. He’s conscious of the fact that those thoughts will never go away, and he’s okay with that because of the tools he now has at his disposal. 

Through counselling with Roy and support group meetings, he’s picked up many tools that he can now call upon in moments of weakness. One of those tools is a badminton racket. 

It’s always been in his toolbox – just that for a few years, a variety of hard drugs had buried it. To him, badminton was his first love and still is. He had grown up with aspirations of playing professionally, which he’s now converted into a passion for coaching which he now does full-time. 

Exercise, along with self-care and open communication, are the tools that he uses most frequently. They’ve gotten him to where he is today, and he sees no reason to stop. Through the healthy lifestyle he now leads – he’s quit cigarettes and works out daily – he's nurtured a level of discipline that provides his life with a rock-solid foundation. 

As with almost every other person starting out in recovery, discipline was sorely lacking at the start. The process of building discipline is long and arduous, but is integral in recovery.   

Jethro speaks with a refreshing level of maturity that reminds me that age is really just a number. It does not matter how long you’ve spent in active addiction, or how many mistakes you’ve made. The only thing that matters is how you pick yourself up from those mistakes.  

Like a professional badminton player playing in a championship final, he’s laser-focused —  on making good in life. With every day that he chooses recovery, he’s not just staying clean, he’s showing up for his family, his daughter, and for the future he wants. 

After spending years chasing the dragon in dimly lit clubs, he’s chasing something entirely different now. He’s chasing a normal, peaceful life. And that, for him, is more than enough. 

 

By Jethro and Jat 

Jethro was a recipient of the first-year award at the 17th Finisher Awards held in July 2024, and is currently a badminton coach.