Zak Boswell was skeptical when Susanne Bentley, D.O., visited him at Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital. He didn’t recall the car crash that had led to his face being “busted up” and to breaks in 12 ribs, his sternum, tailbone, knee and ankle after a night of gambling. He did, however, recall all the doctors who had tried to keep him sober before.

“You’re wasting your time . . . . ” he said. “It’s not going to work. I’ve tried everything.”

But Bentley wasn’t easily put off. “She was relentless,” says Boswell, “Every morning, I’d wake up, and she’d be at the foot of the bed.”

“You’ve got a loving family,” Boswell remembers her saying. “You have a lot going for yourself. Let’s try this.”

She was right, he knew. He was only 32, with three kids and training in electrical and electronic systems technology from Lincoln Tech. Despite his advantages, substance use had consumed his life. A football injury at 21 led to a painkiller prescription that “transpired the addict” in him. What he’s already gone through — including being shot — has resulted in depression, anxiety and PTSD. “If I didn’t have [those issues] before, I have [them] now from a lot of the traumatic incidents I’ve been in in my life,” he says.

When Bentley proposed strategies for recovery during Boswell’s 16-day hospital stay, he’d respond, “Come again tomorrow, and I’ll see if I’m going to do it.”

At the hospital he learned that he’d hurt someone in his car accident and worried, “I’ll be leaving here in shackles probably.” Even if he didn’t, his family’s plans to take him in would only last a week.

“I was homeless . . . . And I knew if I left that hospital without a plan where I would end up,” he says.

“I just prayed about it,” he says, “and I was like . . . whatever it’s going to take, I’m going to do.”

Bentley helped him enter a 30-day rehabilitation program. She prescribed Suboxone, a medication treating opioid addiction. He’d been prescribed it before, but just sold it to get high. This time around, however, he was committed to his recovery, and he not only had Bentley assisting him, but also Daniel Clawson, a peer recovery specialist at Eskenazi Health Center Blackburn, who helped Boswell attain a scholarship for the program while his insurance was pending.

“Daniel called me every day,” says Boswell. Clawson also aided him with his job search, transportation to his medical appointments and even housing applications. “If you do one,” Boswell recalls him saying, “I’ll do two.”

“I was so picky,” admits Boswell. He remembers saying, “I don’t want to go there. I don’t want to do this.”

Clawson reminded him what was at stake, asking, “Do you want a tent on the side of the road? What are you aiming for?”

It was humbling, says Boswell, but just what he needed to hear.

Soon, Boswell was placed in a recovery residence, Oxford House, with a “good group of guys that are trying to reintegrate back into society.” Clawson assisted in negotiating and supplying fees and rent, appealing to local nonprofits to cover costs.

Shortly after arriving at his new home, Boswell landed a job in aviation assisting with tool inventory and checkout for mechanics. While in court for the injury he’d caused, he says his steps toward recovery were acknowledged and contributed to his getting house arrest instead of incarceration.

Now he is studying to be a mechanic to advance his career. His kids’ pride in his employment is “a good feeling,” says Boswell. He knows he’s “getting in tune with my higher power, and everything’s looking a lot better now.”

“Much gratitude for Daniel in helping me through this journey,” he says, “and for Dr. Bentley for helping me.” “I’d love to say I did it by myself,” he adds, “but I didn’t. I did 7% of it. Eskenazi [Health] has been a [heck] of a support system for me.”

Clawson continually recommends that he play the tape of his life backward when tempted to return to substance use. Boswell returns the favor by looking out for vacancies in Oxford House and other recovery residencies for Eskenazi Health patients.

“I’m in a good spot mentally,” says Boswell, “and helping others is what helps me stay sober.” More than three months into his new home and nearly six months sober, he says, “It’s time to take pride in myself and do right. That’s pretty much what I did.”