B.C. man facing death chooses life by giving back to the community

Sawatsky Sign-Off: Lance's Story Adam finds out how a man facing a life and death decision chose to give back to his community.

DUNCAN, B.C. — Lance Debree will never forget being a teenager and having his first drink of alcohol.

“It was like, ‘Whoah! Where have you been all my life?’” Lance recalls. “And from then on, that’s all I wanted.”

Drinking was fun at first. Until it wasn’t. Until it led to doing drugs, losing access to his children, and living on the streets for more than three and a half years.

“I couldn’t see a way out,” Lance says. “What am I going to do sober? How do I stop?”

But then after decades of addiction, his heart stopped. Lance woke up in a hospital room that turned out to be his rock bottom.

“It was either I change or I die,” Lance says

Lance chose life, completed months of rehab, and connected with a local bike store owner named Will Arnold, who had shown him kindness on the street.

“I saw that look in Lance’s face where he was more focused on his well being than the drugs,” Will says. “And that was heartwarming.”

Lance was determined to give back to those he’d burdened and began volunteering with a group that Will had helped start — picking up garbage left by members of the street community.

“It’s hard,” Lance says. “Day after day you wake up and you’re like, ‘OK, I can do this.’”

Lance worked so hard, and demonstrated such a strength of character, that Will and his fellow entrepreneurs in the area agreed to pay Lance to clean up the streets every morning, which led to local butcher Graeme Blackstock offering Lance a full-time job.

“He’s solid. He’s an asset to himself, to the community, and to the shop,” Graeme says. “I’d take him any day as a wingman.”

Now Will calls Lance a friend. The two regularly have coffee together. And Will couldn’t be more proud that Lance has been sober and drug free for more than six years.

“Lance said, ‘I never realized how beautiful life was,’” Will says with a smile. “And that just moved me.”

While Lance couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunities he’s been given and the friendships he’s made, he says the greatest gift in the new life he’s chosen is returning home at the end of the day to see and support his children.

“The best high in the world is ‘I love you’ from my kids,” Lance smiles. “That’s what keeps me going.”