“What did you do with the life I gave you?” That single question stopped Coulter Somes in his tracks.

Somes grew up in the Vail Valley, but in college at the University of Kansas, he found himself drawn into the world of parties and binge drinking. It didn’t take long to notice his drinking was different: his tolerance was greater, his focus on alcohol was stronger. Drinking wasn’t a pastime; it was becoming a part of his identity.

It didn’t help that alcoholism was threaded into the fabric of his family. And like many who inherit this battle, he didn’t see the fight until he was already in it. “I have a disease,” he says now. “And I didn’t really have a choice in that.” 

Yet he persisted. He finished school and earned a master’s degree in family therapy, which he practices today. Yet he was still struggling with his own internal battle as he helped others conquer theirs. 
 

Seeking Sobriety

Even after a decision to change, sobriety doesn’t flip on like a light switch. Somes described himself after the incident as “dry drunk,” where he wasn’t drinking, but he wasn’t committed to a sober lifestyle. Without intention or support, he still felt lost. 

Everything shifted when he moved back to Colorado and connected with Joe Drew, a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Vail Health Behavioral Health Services. 

“I knew that Joe Drew would be the one to help me through this when he didn’t give me the judgment that comes with this addiction — alcoholism has a stigma. When everyone’s trying to fix the problem and you get someone who is listening to you, that makes all the difference,” explains Somes. “I knew that he would be on my team because he was focused on what I had to say and not what everyone else was trying to get across.”

There were a lot of people in Drew’s office for that first meeting. “When Somes walked in, I assessed what he needed. I could see it in his eyes, especially since his entourage surrounded him. This guy needs grace because he’s human like the rest of us,” Drew explains. Drew’s compassion and commitment to Somes have led not only to a successful patient-client relationship but also to a friendship.
 

Giving Back

With Drew’s help, Somes got sober. He began attending Alcoholics Anonymous and working through the 12 steps, knowing the last step is about giving back. About a year into his sobriety, he was lying in bed, reading A Purpose Driven Life, when he came across a line that struck him: “One day God is going to ask you, ‘What did you do with the life I gave you?’”

He stared at the words; he didn’t have a solid response to that question. In that moment, he was going to make it his life’s purpose to give back. So, he started Googling, and that rabbit hole led him to an unexpected place: organ donation. 

For nine months, Somes commuted to Denver for testing and blood work. At first, they explored kidney donation, but then the team asked him a different question: Would he be willing to donate his liver?

“To me, that was out of the question. It wasn’t even a possibility. I knew the extent of the damage I had caused previously. But I learned that you only need a portion of your liver to function and that small portion will work at 100%. So, the organ I had abused through drinking for so many years was the very thing that would save someone’s life.”

The call came suddenly: they had found a candidate, a young girl with a life-threatening illness. “That hit me pretty hard. You don’t have a lot of time to think about it. Once they have a match, they move very quickly. But I was ecstatic, I knew I was going to save a life,” Somes recalls.

Surgery lasted eight hours. Recovery took six months. Giving a piece of himself not only saved someone else’s life, but it also helped rebuild his own. Donating his liver reinforced his commitment to sobriety.
 

Full Circle Starts With One Small Step 

Today, Somes lives on the other side of addiction. Not perfect, he says, but present. He recognizes the miracle of being here, simply waking up without alcohol as his compass. And he credits the team that saw him not as a problem to be solved, but as a person worth saving.

The grace Drew offered Somes in his early days of recovery is the grace he gives back to the world. He found his purpose, one that emerged from one of the hardest chapters of his life.

“Everyone has a purpose in life; it just took me a long time to find mine. Because now when I ask myself that question of what I did with my life, I have an answer.” He smiles.

“I gave it back.”