WOODFORD COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — So many of us think we are put on this planet to serve a specific purpose in life.
Some of us find that early on, while it might take time for others because of a struggle.
It took a man from Lexington decades to find his calling.
"As long as there's a breath in your body there's hope and a way out," said Andrew Hager, who hosts Andrew Hager Live on Facebook Live.
Hager hosts the show from a building next to Journey Church on Hope Lane in Versailles. He preaches the message of hope after struggling for decades with drug and alcohol addiction.
"I did whatever it took," he said. "Whatever it took to get high. No matter who I harmed, who I hurt."
Hager says his addiction started in his teenage years and worsened into his adult life.
"I was breaking into cars, I would steal flower pots off porches if I could re-sell them," he said.
Anything he could get his hands on to sell for drugs.
"They would get off their porches and go in and lock their door," he said. "Like here this guy is again."
Hager says he had multiple stints in jail on several different charges.
"He's honest," said Danielle Sanders, who led Fayette County's Drug Court program. "What you see is what you get."
Sanders met Hager while he was in jail. She was talking with him about drug court.
"I'm in there and I'm dope sick," he said. "Hadn't had a fix. I'm probably 140, 150 pounds. I have my jumpsuit on backwards and just sick."
We asked Hager if he had any photos from family birthdays, holidays, and other momentous occasions for us to see. He told us he wasn't in many of the photos.
"It caused a lot of pain, man," he said. "I hurt a lot of people, you know?"
"They tell you what the options are," Sanders said. "Prison, death, or recovery. You can choose recovery and so once he chose that path and stuck with it, it's beyond remarkable."
It was in 2014 when he turned a corner.
"My son made me a Facebook again back in 2014 and the live button on the whole Facebook deal means you're actually live," he said.
That's what propelled Andrew Hager Live. He reaches tens of thousands of people through his platform.
"It's a recovery to lift each other up," he said. "Lot of them are mothers, with their children that are in addiction. It brings them that hope. That hope."
Once he logged on for the first time, he was hooked -- hooked one something more favorable than the past.
"We're going to get the pom-poms out, we're going to cheer for you, you hear me?" Hager said.
"He helps change lives," Sanders said. "I mean, yeah, I'm proud of him."
Through the platform, Hager hopes people will believe.
"Again, they can change," he said. "It's real."
"He is truly grateful," Sanders said. "I don't think he takes it for granted."
