Introduction

"In 2008, in from one moment to the next, I almost had my life taken away from me in a bike crash. It was a huge lesson in how fragile and precious our health is. I first heard of Josh Bogle through some friends in Jackson Hole. Josh had an accident, was prescribed painkillers and became addicted. Josh was not given a roadmap on how to deal with the addiction. It happened quickly, and the outcome brought him to rock bottom. Josh woke up in a hospital bed after a lengthy coma… Check out his story. Inspiring, to say the least, and we are proud to work with and support Josh on his journey."

— Joel Einhorn, HANAH Founder & CEO

"I had to find resilience and hope in my lowest possible moment."

Written by Josh Bogle

I awoke from a 17 day coma in Maui to an incredible sunrise over Haleakala. The nurses were trying to calm me down. I had tubes down my throat and dialysis machines pumping my toxic blood to my remaining limbs. I could see the waves up the North Shore, almost oblivious to the confusion around me.

All I could do was wrench in pain and try to speak in the hardest moment of my life. The body calmed and the brain started to listen to the stories and joy of those around my bed. I was alive and had been singing Bob Marley’s “3 little birds” in my head. With fingers as black as coal and my feet deeply purple, everyone was ecstatic I was alive.

I was able to celebrate the 8th anniversary of this momentous event this year. I went out for a sunrise quarantine surf session, watching the same sun rise over that magical mountain.

Let me start at the beginning, and how I got here. I had been prescribed legal medications for Bi-polar disorder and ADHD since 2001, whilst living in Jackson Hole. As a snowboarder, I had been pushing myself to the extreme, and in 1990 had started entering competitions. I was in a big freeride competition and after hitting a 60 foot jump, I landed crooked and tweaked my back. The next day I was extremely sore, but continued in the contest. I missed another landing and finished with a full tomahawk down the slope. After a visit to the doctor, I was prescribed OxyContin for the pain.

I had taken opiates before for injuries, but the back problems led me to receiving monthly refills. Back in the early 2000s, doctors were told that OxyContin was safe long term and addiction rates were low.

I kept snowboarding and getting injured. I even rolled my SUV driving to what would have been my first X games in 2005, shattering my shoulder. I had pinched nerves in my neck, ruptured herniated disks in my back and was eating unhealthy food with a bag full of Western medications that had included xanax, valium, percocet, oxytocin, adderall, antidepressants and antipsychotics.

I was a total mess.

And then life woke me up on March 31, 2012.

Doctors were waking me up in a hospital room. I had gotten an MRSA staph infection from stepping on a fish hook, and ended up in a coma four days later. The prognosis was total liver and kidney failure from systemic shock due to taking ten opiate pills a day, and the amputation of both legs, my right hand and half of my left hand.

The miracle of life was the most painful moment in my life.

Now I push myself in sweat lodges, the gym, holistic healing, yoga, eating healthy, ancient superfoods and growing organic produce.

I learned to pray to the earth and moon, to awaken and breathe and be present for the difficult times in life.

Radical spiritual growth is work, and for me the reward is surfing waves, snowboarding untouched powder and learning new ways to listen to the world.