Once caught in a cycle of addiction, grief, and repeated arrests, Cork man Mikey Power’s life was on a dangerous path. After the loss of a close family friend, his teenage years spiraled into alcohol abuse, brushes with the law, and eventually, prison.
But what could have been the end became a turning point. Today, Mikey is a personal trainer, gym owner, and proud new father to baby John Joe, proof that even the lowest moments can lead to something better.
His story is a raw, honest look at hitting rock bottom and fighting his way back, with fitness as his anchor, helping him rebuild his health, mindset, and relationships.
The proud Innishannon man sat down with Brenda Dennehy on The Comeback podcast to share how he turned his life around.
‘I was a difficult student, I did not like the school environment or the way he was taught. I was a ball of energy and school was restrictive’ Mikey began.
‘It was a constant battle every single day and a struggle.’
Despite a negative experience in school, including being bullied, the now turned PT and gym owner says he has learned how to be a good student as an adult by essentially finding what he is most passionate about.
Alcohol played a major role in Mikey’s struggles from his early teenage years onwards, having been introduced to pub culture at a young age, he had his first taste of alcohol in sixth class after taking a can of Heineken from his parent’s cabinet.
Power recalled having a ‘positive’ perception of alcohol after visiting the local pub with his father throughout his childhood, although what he viewed so positively would later cause destruction in his later life.
‘I came up through GAA, surrounded by older lads, I was 14/15 playing with 18-20 year olds and I would go drinking with them afterwards. I was a very nervous and quiet young man. I could not speak to women. Alcohol gave me the courage and the ability to explode into life and become a completely different version of myself, or the version of myself I knew I was capable of being.’
‘Later on it became medicine and a way to mask , an escape from the pain and torment of everyday life.’
Mikey told Brenda Dennehy that the loss of a brother figure and close family friend resulted in his life taking a downhill turn, which later led to multiple arrests a week;
“Joe would have been the closest thing I had to a brother growing up. I idolised him. All I wanted to do was be around him, or be like him.
‘Just after my 17th birthday, Joe went out on a night out and he didn’t return home. We spent 3 weeks looking up and down the river lee looking all over cork. In January his body showed up and all hope was lost in that moment. It was in those weeks that my addiction really accelerated. Nobody really knew how to deal with it, everyone of us was just trying to survive and I found my way of surviving at the bottom of a bottle.
This led to frequent run-ins with the guards, 15 arrests in 12 weeks, for assaults, robberies to feed his addiction.”
Mikey recalled at 17 years of age, he would often wake up in a cell covered in his urine with his mother standing over him.
However once he turned 18, things went from bad to worse, Mikey told Brenda, that he considered taking his own life following a night out of drinking;
‘I had just gone through a horrific time mentally after Joe’s passing, I hit rock bottom in my life and I did not want to go on living anymore.
‘I had two or three cans, found a taxi, asked the taxi for a slip of paper, wrote a semi serious note and went over to the bridge. I had the last drink in my hand and I said at the end of this one, I’m in, I’m done and I’m finished. This eternal peace came over me, just this sense of I am exactly where I am supposed to be right now.’
Thankfully, two guards passing the scene intervened and pulled me off of the bridge;
‘There was someone looking over me that night and they made sure they got there just in the knick of time.’
Mikey credits the support he received at Tabor lodge, an addiction treatment centre, as one of the best things he ever did in terms of allowing him to deal with issues of anger, frustration, grief and a lack of love for himself.
‘I came out of it feeling like a weight or anchor was lifted off my chest.’
Unfortunately things took a turn for the worse after Mikey returned home;
‘I ended up back in the same environment and picked up the bottle again. Things got much worse, more drinking, more trouble. I even shattered tendons putting my foot through a window and spent six weeks in hospital. The first thing I did after getting out? Went straight back to the pub.
Eventually at the age of 21, Mikey was arrested and did time in prison, a time he credits for allowing him to focus on his passion for exercise and committing to turning his life around;
‘I was in cells with heroin addicts but I chose not to [do drugs]. I made the conscious effort to change in there, but it was a very challenging time. There were moments in there that were frightening. Ultimately I had to grow up and take responsibility for where I was in life.
‘I found exercise in prison and I found purpose in prison. Prison can be whatever you make it. I came out qualified as. PT, I persevered and kept working. I started working in a gym for free, eventually became manager, and I then took it over and now I own that gym.
‘What I have learned now is how can I see these problems in somebody else? Hopefully I can help them going through the same thing. There’s more to life than alcohol and drugs. If you look for recovery and strength to change your life you will find it.
‘You can rebuild your entire life in the gym. Alcohol gave me an escape, but exercise gave me so much more. It gave me the ability to handle life and life’s terms, the ability to look myself in the mirror and say you’re doing okay, you’re doing what’s best for you. It gave me the ability to keep going and keep showing up.’
After his release Mikey admitted that although life was good, he was running a business and in a positive relationship, he was in a bad place mentally in the lead up to a holiday to South America, where previous patterns returned.
‘I went on holiday and started drinking and drugging every day. It was a terrible time for my partner Emma. I had lost my way completely. After 9 weeks away I told her I could not be with her anymore. The real reason was that she was getting in the way of my drinking. I chose drink and I chose drugs. I moved back home and for 2 weeks, I drank and drugged every day.
After his parents told him they wanted him out of the family home, Mikey knew he had to make a change and attended an AA meeting and got his life back on track. Since then, his gym has doubled in size and he has opened two additional businesses.
‘I’m living a life that is my wildest dreams today because of my decision to take action and to follow through. I had made the decision to give it up by myself and for myself.’
Now happily settled with his partner Emma and their new baby in their first home, the new dad is determined not to repeat past mistakes. His latest challenge, climbing the highest point in each Munster county and cycling between them in 48 hours, raised €17,500 for Special Olympics Ireland.
‘Alcohol and drugs will never have a future in it for me. They amplified problems I had and created new problems.
Hike with Mike 72 hours challenge will take place august 7th – 10th with funds going to special olympics ireland.
Tune in to The Comeback with Brenda Dennehy, featuring Mikey Power, available on all podcast platforms.
