Pro skateboarder uses own challenges to inspire others towards recovery

WATCH – SOBER IS BETTER –

May 20, 2021 – To most skateboarders, time at the local skate park is all about perfecting their craft — time to get on their boards, practice new skills and just let loose.

For pro skateboarder Brandon Turner, time at the skate park has become much more than that. “It’s a community and connection,” he said. “It’s freedom.”

Turner became a local legend in the skateboarding world as a kid. He rose up the ranks becoming a skateboarding prodigy. He spent most of his teen and young adult years touring the globe, becoming well known for his crazy stunts and fearlessness on the board.

“I connected with a couple pro skateboarders and they taught me the business side of it,” he explained. “It took off and I started getting paid at 14 years old.”

Turner was living the dream doing something he loved, but with the money and the fame also came drugs and alcohol.

“I thought everything was up to me and I was in the right direction in my own mind,” he said. “I did what I wanted.”

By his mid-20s, Turner had slipped into a downward spiral and spent time in both prison and jail.

“I was just hanging around the wrong people and getting into the wrong things,” Turner said. “I wasn’t sticking to my passion that gave me so much. The change for me came when I was able to make the decision to put my ego aside and ask for help.”

In 2016, more than just getting sober and getting back on the board, he also decided to start using his experiences to help others struggling with the same challenges.