Life torn apart by alcohol, Penticton man finds liberation at Discovery House

By mid-2018, Brain Salter's life was a disaster.

He drank from morning to night and was days away from sleeping in a homeless shelter or a gutter.

He'd blown a small fortune on alcohol, ruined relationships and scuttled a long line of jobs, including several high-grossing management positions.

He had no money, no real belongings and soon was in the midst of yet another hardcore detox session - this time at Penticton Regional Hospital.

Having fought a losing battle with alcoholism for years, this otherwise well-spoken and well-educated middle-aged man was admittedly at the end of his rope.

Today, Salter's been stone-cold sober for 16 months.

He has a wardrobe, a car, a good roof over his head and a job with which he can be justifiably proud, and he credits much of the turnaround to the men's recovery centre known as Discovery House.

In his early twenties, the world was Salter's plaything. He attended Simon Fraser University, where a football scholarship covered his first year's tuition.

Ultimately, he'd emerge with a business degree and a job ready and waiting at the Workers Compensation Board (now WorkSafeBC).

His drinking began as college wound down.

"My excuse was that school was a party atmosphere," he says, "but then it continued into my work. I missed a lot of days that I'd often explain away as dentist appointments."

The WCB wasn't buying it. They told him to get treatment or get out, and he listened. After a six-week program, he embarked on a 29-year period of sobriety.