Meet the Pennsylvania dad who battled addiction to save his relationship with his son
DEVON, Pa. (CBS) — Noah Langnas and his son Aaron encourage each other when they're out hitting golf balls.
"It's the most important relationship in my life," Noah Langnas said.
But that relationship was jeopardized when the father said he got lost in addiction.
"I was a sales manager for a Fortune 500 company, and my second back surgery didn't go as planned," Noah Langnas said. "I took two pills and six years later basically woke up in rehab."
Through the haze of addiction, he knew he needed to get clean to save his relationship with his son.
"The best gift I have ever received from being in recovery is to be fully present in his life and be able to be in the moment," Noah Langnas said.
It was a gift for his son, too.
"Due to his experience … he's become wiser, someone I can definitely go to for help," Aaron Langnas said.
Now, Noah Langnas helps others struggling with addiction as the director of admissions at Recovery Centers of America in Devon.
Noah Langnas said having been an addict gives him a special connection to patients who are in recovery.
"I know what it's like to be broken," he said. "I know what it's like to have no hope."
Noah Langnas said he wants to share his story of recovery to let other people know the battle against addiction is worth everything.
"I made it out one day at a time, so there's some instant credibility that I gain where it's not just the title, it's that, hey this guy knows what it's like to destroy his life for a short period of time, but he also knows what it's like to get to the other side," he said.
He appreciates being able to give back and also have his son back, with Father's Day now being especially meaningful.
"It's just, it's just absolutely amazing," he said. "It's all I ever wanted."