A member
shares their experience of an encounter with Wayne Butler and the
Last Mile Foundation
“Unfortunately
when I came into recovery I met W. Butler and his gang. It felt like
they targeted me as I was new and vulnerable. Before I knew it I felt
like I was being threatened into only saying and doing certain things
and only going to specific meetings of their choice. It was a
horrible time. It was all done under the threat of 'if you don't
follow what we say then you will probably drink again'. What an awful
trap. Thankfully I escaped their grip and went to 'normal' meetings.
At one point WB was even trying to get me to pay money towards his
flight from the US to the UK by saying that AA members 'pay their own
way'. Well I'm not sure how me paying for him is him paying his own
way, but I was made to feel like I was not following the true path of
recovery if I didn't do as he/they said. I gave him/them no money. I
felt that their attitude towards me totally changed after that. It's
almost like I was useless to them once they knew they couldn't get
anything out of me. I'm so glad I'm free of them now and I'm living a
sober life in normal AA....something they inferred wasn't possible.”
Comment:
The above member seems to have had something of a narrow escape. But
the lesson is clear – keep your money in your pocket and stay away
from the “snake oil purveyors”!
Cheerio
The Fellas
(Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)
PS Our
thanks go to the AA member supplying this information
