Source: Advocate-Press
Formerly known as “Marvelous” Marc Mero from his pro-wrestling tenure, he now spends his days touring the world, sharing his life story to young adults and inspiring them. Mero spoke to junior high & school students from Flora & North Clay in Illinois last week. Mero discussed with the students; the mistakes he made in his life & how he does not want them to not follow his path.
Here are a few excerpts from Marc Mero’s talk with the students of Flora & North Clay schools:
“I’ve overdosed on drugs on three occasions and I am very honest with the students as to where my bad choices took me. After losing my brother and sister, they both died at 21,my mom died at age 58, my dad died while I was holding him in my arms. I realized how precious life was and how quickly it could be taken away.”
Mero On Traveling To Schools Telling His Story & How They Effect People:
“Every time we went to a school, they would tell another school about it, it’s across the world. We went to Russia and spoke at schools in Russia. I’ve met so many parents that have lost their kids to suicide or drug overdose and it’s something that they don’t get over. They carry the pain with them the rest of their lives, I think this program gets kids to open up and talk about their adversity and their feelings. When we hold them in, it’s like a volcano and sooner or later it will erupt, sometimes it will erupt into negative behavior.”
Mero Discussing His Mother & Her Death:
“I guess the amazing thing about my life is that I became the man that my mom thought I would be, unfortunately, she wasn’t around to see it. I believe she knows, we just take our parents for granted but when it ends, it’s one of the most sobering things that I went through. After of hearing of her death, I was in Japan and I remember walking into the streets of Hiroshima, Japan, it was 3:00 in the morning and I remember just screaming how sorry I was and realizing at that point, I would never see her again until I see her in heaven.”
His Encounter With Drugs During His Time In WCW:
“The drugs happened a lot more when I was with WCW, then I cleaned up my life, made a commitment and got married, that lasted for a while then it all came back with a vengeance and everything got ruined: divorce, loneliness, loss of friends, depression, you name it. Leaving wrestling, it just snowballed, with three drug overdoses, the depression got so dark.”
“The blessing that comes out of it is that I meet people that have gone or are going through the things I went through and I can look them in the eye and say ‘I know how you feel. I know what you’re going through and really mean it.”
Marc Mero Reflecting On His Life As A Whole:
“I am so grateful that I didn’t end my own life and everyday seeing thousands of students that are experiencing a life changing presentation. I just got a message yesterday that the girl said ‘If it wasn’t for you being here, I would have ended my life.’ I got a bunch of letters from kids that were suicidal and didn’t want to be here any longer. I was up most of the night answering these letters and I still have so many that I haven’t got to yet.”
“I know that some kid here is going to have a life changing moment, some kid here is going to go home and tell their parents that they love them, be kinder to their siblings and are going to go after their dreams and goals in their life and realize that they are pretty special, pretty amazing and that they matter.”
