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Active Recovery

Vanisha Breault's daughter experienced youth addiction. Now, with the Terminator Foundation, she’s inspiring others to conquer addiction and reclaim their lives.

Rachel Debling

For some going through difficult periods in their lives, turning to exercise is a no-brainer. That rush of adrenaline, the allure of consistency, the rewards of setting and meeting goals—it can be a relief to lose yourself in the abandon that comes every time you start another tough set or hit the pavement for a breezy five-kilometre run.

People’s lives completely transformed from addiction.
Vanisha Breault

But when Vanisha Breault was facing some of the darkest days of her and her family’s life, athletics wasn’t a distraction—it was a way for her to face her pain head-on. Now, through the Terminator Foundation, she’s bringing this approach to recovery to hundreds of others who have also experienced trauma related to addiction.

To put it simply, Vanisha got here—the founder and CEO of a successful nonprofit that helps those in the throes of addiction find meaning, and their way out—due to her love for her daughter, Eden.

“It’s like I had a pair of binoculars, and I could see the storm coming,” she recalls of what she saw as her daughter’s generation’s shift to drugs like opioids and methamphetamine some 10 to 15 years ago. “We’re going to lose a whole generation of young people if we don’t sound the alarm.”

When Eden began disappearing for days on end, with Vanisha sometimes being alerted to her presence at flophouses by the local police, Vanisha felt powerless in the fight against the invisible threat that was gripping her daughter.

“At one time, meth and heroin were considered ‘bad,’” says Vanisha. “But during Eden’s journey through addiction, those drugs weren’t thought of as bad or dirty anymore. They were the new party drugs.”

The one thing that Vanisha felt she could do, to put herself mentally in her daughter’s shoes as she grappled with her own issues, was face a form of pain that she could tackle head-on. For Vanisha, someone who had never learned how to swim nor was a strong cyclist, that call was to sign up for a half-Ironman.

“All I had were my runners when I signed up,” she says with a laugh. “I signed up in April, and the 70.3 Ironman was happening in July, so I had just over three months to train.” With the support of her coach, Sheryl—who at times herself thought that Vanisha was reaching beyond her capabilities—Vanisha taught herself to swim, and only a dozen or so weeks later, she pushed through to the finish line.

After that, Vanisha was hooked. “It shook everything in my life to my core,” she explains. “It transformed my life. It was that intense.”

Wanting to share the hope she had found, Vanisha took to social media to connect with those who were experiencing substance use disorder, just like Eden. “I had barely finished [the race] myself, and I was asking people online, ‘Hey, do you want to train for an Ironman?’” Much to her surprise, several people showed interest, and soon her advocacy in action began. This program was the spark that would eventually grow into the Terminator Foundation, an activity-based, three-month program for individuals in treatment, in post-treatment, in long-term recovery, or struggling with substance use.

“Today we have a whole program built on that philosophy,” says Vanisha. “It’s a strength-based approach to addiction recovery, because it shows [youth experiencing addiction] right away just how capable they are.” And exercise, she believes, is age-old medicine, one arm of treatment that is often overlooked. Vanisha points to the effects of exercise on the prefrontal cortex, the dopamine rush it elicits, that familiar natural high—all important when in recovery.

Today, Vanisha isn’t shy when talking about the results the Terminator Foundation’s clients achieve through their own hard work. When asked what transformations she sees coming out of the program, she doesn’t mince words. “People’s lives completely transformed from addiction,” she shares. “We basically want to light up your life. If you’re feeling hopeless, if you don’t believe you can recover, come
and work with us for 12 weeks and let us help you revolutionize your life. I’ve seen it so many times.”

These days, Vanisha is enjoying life as a grandmother of eight, and the company of Eden, who has been sober for seven years. Society’s approach to substance-use issues has greatly evolved since Eden’s experience and the launch of the Terminator Foundation, Vanisha says. But that doesn’t mean the road to recovery is short, she cautions.

For those who are concerned about a loved one, Vanisha has this advice. “If a parent is saying to themselves, ‘I wonder if I need to intervene,’ you probably need to intervene,” she explains. “That’s the sign right there that you probably need to start researching.”

Even better: Reach out to a program like the Terminator Foundation. After all, they’ve been where you are, they are eager to help, and there’s certainly strength in numbers.

Photography by: Trudie Lee Photography