'I want to show people there is hope': Carr shares journey of addiction in upcoming book

May 4—Beech Grove resident Tom Carr can be seen at a variety of high school sporting events throughout the year taking photos for his company, Tom Carr Photography.

Now, Carr is venturing into another endeavor as author with his upcoming first book, "The Prodigal Son: The Addict" — which he said "is a true story of my fall from grace, my journey through drug addiction and into recovery."

"It'll be 20 years in September," Carr, 64, said regarding his sobriety anniversary. "When I was first released from prison, I started writing my testimony because I felt like I had a story to tell. So I started writing that, and it took me about a year to write that because ... it was still kind of early on, and I was dialing back into painful memories and stuff."

Carr eventually put his testimony aside for a little while before writing a "watered down version."

He said the book serves as a way to fill in the gaps of history throughout his 25 years of "deep, dark depression and drug abuse."

"I always thought while I was trying to write that, I couldn't get up and give a six-hour testimony," he laughed. "Twenty-five years is a whole lot of details."

Born and raised in a Christian household in Lexington, Carr dropped out of Bryan Station High School in the 11th grade to work for his father at his residential construction business. Carr married shortly after and started a family in a home he built in Versailles.

However, the marriage was short-lived and ended in divorce, which Carr said was around the time he began to get involved in the "party life" around the age of 18.

"I was a single man. ... That's when I started doing a little drinking, partying on the weekends, smoking a little weed — just kind of drifted off," he said. "The whole time up until the latter part of the addiction, it was very easy. I would go to work high everyday; it was the only way I could go to work ...."

However, once Carr said he got into the "heavier end of the addiction," which included cocaine and opioids, that's when it became a bigger concern.

"When Oxytocin first came out, I started getting into that," he said. "After that, there was no turning back. That was something that grabbed a hold of me."

Carr also said he ended up getting married two more times, had children and divorced during this part of his life.

"The whole cycle was just rolling around, and (I) just couldn't figure out what the problem was," he said.

Carr ended up having run-ins with law enforcement for smaller issues before he was arrested for trafficking in cocaine in 1987 — his first felony, in which he served a six-month work release and five years probation.

Still, it didn't deter Carr from continuing down the path he was on.

"I was still doing everything," he said. "... It didn't scare me enough to stop, but at the back of my mind this whole time I'm thinking: 'What am I doing wrong?' But drugs were the only way I could cope. I didn't know for a long time that I was depressed for years just because of the struggle within ....

"Drugs were always my fallback, and that never worked either until just one thing led to another, to another, to another ...."

Eventually, Carr became involved with selling and getting addicted to cocaine in order to fund his addiction to pain pills.

"It just snowballed into manufacturing the crack and selling it and doing it at the same time," he said. "It was non-stop."

At the age of 45, Carr was hanging around Powell County, where his daughter resided. He said eastern Kentucky was considered "the pill capital of the world" at the time.

"My intention was to sell the coke to afford some more pills, and that got to where that snowballed into nobody else could find the pills ... but (the) crack was readily available," he said. "It just took off."

Carr was arrested in January 2003 and spent about 30 days in jail before getting out on bond. He then headed back to Lexington and was "still trying to (do) whatever I could do to afford a pill here and there."

"I was pawning everything I could get my hands on. I was stealing stuff," he said. "That's when I was really, really into the (thought of): 'There's no turning back. There's no end to this because all I can see was that I just need another fix.' "

While out on bond, Carr found old checkbooks from his father's company for accounts that had been closed for years. He passed fraudulent checks before landing back in jail.

"I probably wrote about 17 different checks before one liquor store finally questioned it and called the police, and I was arrested for that," he said.

Realizing that his previous charges were getting stacked against him, Carr was aware prison time was possible.

But he saw this as an opportunity to turn his life around.

"... I realized if I'm ever going to get clean, this is time to do it," he said.

Carr served 14 months at the Marion Adjustment Center before getting parole. He was taken in by his sister Jackie and her partner who helped him get back on his feet into civilian life with saving up money, paying bills, finding employment and going to church.

He also received his GED during his incarceration.

"I had a good support team," he said. "Without that, I would have not been able to do it."

Carr said it was the day of his release from prison that he realized he was no longer tied to his past.

"Through a lot of prayer and a lot of faith, ... I really felt the day of my release ... I knew right then and there I was set free," he said. "... What keeps me clean (is) knowing good and well that I've been set free. and I won't allow myself to (go back)."

Carr said addiction, however, does not just apply to just drugs and alcohol.

"... Addiction's all across the board. There is a lot of addiction," Carr said. "To me, anything that just has a hold on you that won't let you be free and happy and lead a productive lifestyle — it pulls you back (and) doesn't let you live."

One of Carr's goals with his story is to help people see a light in a journey that seems dim or completely dark.

"The whole thing about writing the book is trying to bring hope to somebody, because I know when I was going through it I didn't see any way out other than death," he said. "I want to show people there is hope."

"The Prodigal Son: The Addict" is due to be available soon on Amazon.

Carr is currently seeking recommendations on locations and/or venues to hold a meet and greet and book signing. If interested, please email: theprodigalsontheaddict@gmail.com.

For more information and updates about the book, visit facebook.com/theprodigalsontheaddict.