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The Addicted Mind Podcast

Episode 388: The Power of "I Get To": Surviving a 130 MPH Crash and Finding Purpose with Christian Struthers

The Addicted Mind Podcast

Duane Osterlind, LMFT

Mental Health, Health & Fitness, Medicine

4.7 • 658 Ratings

🗓️ 13 July 2026

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | Apple Podcasts | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this powerful episode of The Addictive Mind, host Duane Osterlind sits down with Christian Struthers to discuss his incredible journey from an ego-driven lifestyle of addiction to surviving a catastrophic, near-fatal car accident. Christian shares how a simple shift in perspective saved his mental health, how a German Shepherd named Millie helped him heal, and how he turned his trauma into a mission to give back.


Key Takeaways From This Episode

  • The Illusion of "Superman": From the outside, Christian had it all—athletic talent, college baseball scholarships, and a supportive family. However, a lack of consequences fueled a massive ego, leading him down a dark path of alcohol, party scenes, and using prescription pills (like Xanax and painkillers) to regulate his extreme lifestyle.
  • The Crash That Changed Everything: On August 3, 2016, Christian was the passenger in a vehicle traveling 130 mph that flipped end-over-end for a football field and a half. The driver tragically did not survive. Christian suffered catastrophic injuries, including a broken neck, two strokes, a punctured lung, and a shattered pelvis. He survived by a thread, stopping his internal bleeding on the very last available bag of his rare O-negative blood type.
  • The "I Get To" Mindset: Facing the reality of being bedridden and told he might never walk again, Christian fell into deep depression. A profound piece of wisdom from a hospital nurse flipped a switch for him: "Christian, you don't have to do this. You get to do this." This shift from obligation to gratitude changed the trajectory of his recovery.
  • Millie and the Genesis of Dog Dash 3K: Promised a dog by his parents if he survived the coma, Christian bonded with a German Shepherd named Millie. She became his ultimate motivation to heal. To honor her unconditional love, he started Dog Dash 3K, a community event that now donates 100% of its profits to animal shelters.
  • Recovery is a Work in Progress: Christian opens up about the painful loss of Millie to heart disease years later, which triggered a brief relapse into drinking. He shares a vulnerable, vital reminder that sobriety and healing are never linear, and that addiction is often a coping mechanism for underlying pain.

Memorable Quotes

"My ego—they called me Superman... it started with ego, went to bad choices with no consequences, and then it went to addiction." — Christian Struthers

"A nurse looked at me and she said, 'Christian, you don't have to do this. You get to do this.' That right there switched for me... That's what changed my life." — Christian Struthers

"Addiction isn't necessarily the problem... it's our answer to the problem. There's an underlying pain." — Christian Struthers

"You're one good decision away from completely changing your life. And you get to make that good decision today, right now." — Christian Struthers

Resources & Links Mentioned

Connect with Christian Struthers:


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Supporting Resources:

If you live in California and are looking for counseling or therapy please check out Novus Mindful Life Counseling and Recovery Center

NovusMindfulLife.com

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Addicted Mind podcast. I'm Dwayne Austerland, and I am so glad you're here.

0:12.8

Addiction isn't necessarily the problem and drugs and all. It's our answer to the problem.

0:24.1

There's an underlying, again, I was sober,

0:29.4

I was doing great. And then I couldn't deal with the pain. I didn't know how to deal with the pain. I didn't know any other way to deal with it.

0:35.3

Today, my guest is Christian Struthers.

0:38.2

He's a motivational speaker, recovery advocate, and founder of Dog Dash 3K.

0:45.4

Now, Christian was the golden kid.

0:47.5

Baseball scholarships, a great family, a dad who worked himself to the bone to give him everything.

0:54.3

But underneath all of that was an ego.

0:57.3

A taste for chasing the next big feeling and a habit of using pills to bring himself back down

1:03.8

from all of that hype.

1:05.5

Then in 2016, a night out with a friend ended with a car going 130 miles an hour, a crass that really should have killed him.

1:15.1

And he talks about a stranger who appeared out of nowhere to cut the seatbelt that was choking him.

1:22.6

And he has no idea who that person was.

1:25.2

And then Christian woke up two days later, not knowing if he'd ever walk

1:29.0

again. So we talk about what it's like to lose everything you thought made you strong and have to

1:34.9

rebuild from a hospital bed. We get into the moment a nurse told him, you don't have to do this.

1:42.5

You get to do this. And how that one sentence became the philosophy that changed his life.

1:49.3

And we talk honestly about relapse, about grief, and about how his dog Millie carried

1:54.4

him through the darkest parts of his recovery.

1:58.0

But before we jump in, if this podcast has been meaningful to you, take a moment

2:02.7

to rate and review the Addictin Mind on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, even better write a review.

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