"From Left for Dead I want to tell you about a night in British Columbia in 2003.

I was kidnapped while traveling. Taken to an abandoned house. Beaten. Stripped naked. Left for dead in the winter.

I escaped through the back door — barefoot — into the cold. I knocked on three doors before someone finally let me in. Three strangers. Then an ambulance. Then a hospital.

That night didn't break me. But it joined a lifetime of things that tried to.

── THE WEIGHT I CARRIED ──

The abuse started when I was seven years old. Adult neighbors. It lasted until I was ten.

Then, within the Roman Catholic school system and Church — more abuse. The kind that takes decades to name out loud.

For years I carried all of it. In silence. In addiction. In survival mode. Hard IV drugs. Alcohol. Numbing everything I didn't know how to face.

I was running from things that had already happened. And I was losing.

── THE TURN ──

Then I ended up in the hospital with a blood infection. Three blood transfusions.

Lying there, I felt something I hadn't felt in a very long time.

God came back.

Not as religion. Not as guilt. As presence. As a reason to try one more time.

I checked into Winnipeg Detox for 12 days. Then RPC Riverpoint Centre for 56 days. Then — and this changed everything — Homewood Health Centre in Guelph, Ontario for 63 days.

131 days total. Focused entirely on healing the trauma that had haunted me since I was seven years old.

I am one year clean from hard IV drugs. Six years free from alcohol.

"I didn't just get sober. I got my life back."

── WHO I AM NOW ──

At Homewood, in my own time, I came back to things I had forgotten about myself.

I am a professional photographer and videographer. I paint at a high level. I learned digital design, artificial intelligence, and e-commerce from scratch.

And I built Shop BAM Online — shopbamonline.com — an upscale boutique selling curated footwear, denim, handbags, accessories, and outerwear. A real business. My business. Something beautiful built from the rubble of everything that came before.

I am not asking for rescue. I am asking for fuel.

I have just enough income to live on. What I don't have is the advertising budget to get this store in front of the people who need to see it. That's the gap. That's what your help closes.

── WHERE THE MONEY GOES ──

Every dollar raised goes directly into building Shop BAM Online:

• Paid social media advertising — Meta, TikTok, Pinterest

• Professional product photography and video content

• SEO tools and email marketing platform

• Inventory investment for the boutique

• Google Ads to drive traffic to the store

This is not survival funding. This is launch fuel for a business I have already built — and am ready to grow.

── THE ASK ──

If you've ever been told your past disqualifies you — I'm proof it doesn't.

If you've ever fought your way back from something that should have ended you — you know what this moment feels like.

I made it through the abandoned house. Through the addiction. Through 131 days of treatment. Through learning everything from scratch.

This is the last door I need help opening.

Please donate — and please share this campaign. Every share is worth more than you know.

With deep gratitude,

Brent — Shop BAM Online

🎁 DONATION TIERS

AMOUNT TIER WHAT IT MEANS

$10 A Spark Covers one day of social media ad spend. Small gift, real impact.

$25 The Knock Like the three strangers who answered their door. You're one of them.

$50 A Step Forward One week of targeted advertising reaching fashion shoppers.

$100 The Builder Funds a full product photo shoot for one item in the boutique.

$250 The Believer One month of email marketing tools reaching thousands of potential customers.

$500 The Foundation Major campaign sponsor. Name featured in a personal thank-you video posted across all platforms.

$1,000+ The Cornerstone Reserved for the extraordinary. Personal call with Brent + featured partner story on shopbamonline.com.