Robert Ramsay: 2005 Courage to Come Back Award Recipient

Toronto, Ontario

Bob's story is one of triumph against tremendous odds. One of those people who seemed to have it all, it is almost impossible to believe that Bob could have ever come so close to losing everything, including his life. An unbridled achiever, Bob was not only academically and professionally accomplished, he was always full of energy and involved in many community causes. But while Bob was smiling on the outside, he was deeply troubled on the inside.

Bob had always been known as the life of the party and often the host. He was the captain of three sports teams in high school as well as the captain of the Princeton Freshman Squash Team. He was a speechwriter for Premier William Davis, a board member of the Toronto International Film Festival and Women's College Hospital Foundation, and he chaired the International Readings at Harbourfront. Yet all of his accomplishments and determination could not save him from himself.

He fell into a pattern of substance abuse as a means of escaping depression and, for many years, was intermittently addicted to cocaine. After losing almost everything including his businesses, his relationships, his homes, many of his friends and his own self-respect, he began the long, painful process of rebuilding his life. It was in 1990, following a lengthy downward spiral and the intervention of friends, that Bob finally went in to treatment for his addiction.

The first several years proved to be difficult, but Bob met a woman and later married Dr. Jean Marmoreo, who supported him throughout his recovery. In the years since, Bob has remained clean and sober and has become a role model for recovering addicts across Toronto. Not only has he helped fellow addicts and alcoholics, but Bob has also helped those whose friends, family members and colleagues are afflicted with addiction.

Bob has shown incredible courage in speaking out publicly about addiction. He has written about addiction and interventions in Macleans magazine and The Globe and Mail, and has given speeches on this subject to countless organizations. Another one of Bob's outstanding accomplishments, together with his wife, was the creation of JeansMarines. JeansMarines began in 2002 as an idea to have Bob and Jean's women friends join them in running the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington D.C. Today, JeansMarines is now the largest women's marathon training group in the world.

Despite adversity, Bob successfully turned his life around and continues to help others do the same with theirs. Over the years he has became the unofficial 'go-to' guy for friends whose family, friends and colleagues are afflicted with addiction and his advice is always the same: "Get help. Now. Act now. Do not delay."