Vancouver man inspires hope on Downtown Eastside after searching for missing mask in Victoria
According to the sign that Trey Helten made and placed on the side of the busy road, a mask was missing.
It featured a drawing of the brass diving helmet, along with its measurements, and a number to call if you knew anything about its whereabouts.
In big letters on the top of the sign, Trey wrote "Please Help."
Trey says the decorative diving helmet survived a devastating house fire.
“It was the only thing he had left of his mother.”
Was. Until someone stole it.
“I was the one who stole it,” Trey admits.
Trey says he then then sold the helmet to support his addiction, before hitting rock bottom, starting a 12-step program, and striving to make amends.
“It’s very important to me that I right this wrong,” Trey said in an interview with CTV News in 2016.
So, along with making the sign, Trey spent months searching second-hand stores for the helmet.
He never found it.
Until almost a year later, the man who ended up buying the helmet at a garage sale saw the CTV News story about Trey’s search and brought it to the station.
When CTV News presented it to Trey as a surprise, his elated laugh was soon replaced by appreciative tears. Now, he could finally right that wrong.
“It’s intense,” Trey said before knocking on the door of the house he stole from.
“It’s really scary facing it instead of running away.”
And it was really meaningful for the man who was finally reunited with the helmet, that last tangible reminder of his mom.
“I think he’s alright,” the man said, his anger towards Trey replaced by admiration “especially for what he’s done.”
While that one step on Trey’s road to recovery went well, countless others did not. But Trey never gave up on himself.
Five years later — thanks to a community that never gave up on him — Trey says he’s six and a half years drug free.
“As long as I’m working towards being a better person or rectifying behaviour,” Trey says of his daily work to stay sober. “I can find peace.”
Trey started paying his peace forward by volunteering at Vancouver’s Overdose Prevention Society, before working his his way up to the paid position of general manager.
“It feels good to help someone, obviously,” Trey says.
But it's something else entirely, during this complicated opioid crisis, to really show someone they’re not alone, and there is hope.
“I tell people, ‘This may be just a temporary thing in your life. This might not be forever,’” Trey says. “‘If you work for it, anything is possible.’”
Missing helmets can be found. Unforgivable actions can be forgiven. Broken lives can be mended.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
U.S. says Israel's use of U.S. arms likely violated international law, but evidence is incomplete
The Biden administration said Friday that Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
'State or state-sponsored actor' believed to be behind B.C. government hacks
The head of British Columbia’s civil service has revealed that a “state or state-sponsored actor” is behind multiple cyber-security incidents against provincial government networks.
Mother assaulted by stranger while breastfeeding baby in her car: Vancouver police
A person was arrested in East Vancouver Thursday after allegedly entering a car while a mother was breastfeeding her four-month-old boy.
More than half the Canadians once detained in Syrian camps for suspected ISIS family members have returned home
A total of 29 Canadians have been freed from detention camps in northeast Syria and brought back to Canada since human rights advocates began lobbying for their release years ago.
Rare severe solar storm Friday could bring spectacular aurora light show across Canada
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Canada abstains from Palestinian UN membership vote but supports two-state solution
Canada was one of 25 countries that abstained from a United Nations vote on Palestinian membership that passed with overwhelming support on Friday.
Amish youth experience a rite of passage called Rumspringa. It’s not what you might think
The idea of “Rumspringa” has a specific spot in the American imagination. A rite of passage for young people in some Amish communities, Rumspringa is seen by most outsiders as a wild time away from strict Amish rules, when teenagers can experiment with the modern vices of the world.