Al Richards woke up with one leg missing. And yet his room was the one full of laughter. New staff were warned about laughter in a room - if you hear a room having a good time, that's Al's. What made it remarkable was everything he was laughing in the middle of.
"There's nothing we can do. Your foot will continue to die."
"I'm done. I'm having him take it. The pain I'll go through is going to be healing pain."
Al is a podcaster, speaker, co-founder of the Healing Utah Success Summit and a newly certified crisis and recovery coach. In 2025, a plaque blockage cut off the blood supply to his right foot until it began to die beneath him. He chose amputation over a dying limb. Barely out of hospital, four weeks later, addiction took his wife.
This episode is about surgical choice, grief, and what it takes to turn towards the storm like the bison instead of running from it.
What we explore:
- The two-hour ultimatum — choosing amputation over a foot that was dying underneath him
- Why ego is a man's worst enemy: not crying, not asking for help, not seeing the doctor
- The "message in the mirror" — Al's morning routine of gratitude and self-love
- Losing his wife four weeks after losing his leg, and refusing to let grief become identity
- Vessels, not victims — the Drama Triangle, paying it forward to new amputees, and walking towards the storm like the bison
Connect with Al:
Podcast: The Other Side of Addiction (Apple)
YouTube: The Other Side of Addiction
Instagram: @mralrichards
TikTok: @alrichards780
LinkedIn: Al Richards
Facebook: Al Richards
A little about Hamish
I spent 25 years building a life that looked successful from the outside, but within, it was the opposite. Everything was falling apart, and I was throwing fuel on that fire. The joy of life had fallen away. Late November 2018, I had to make a choice: live or die. I chose to live, and everything changed. I had to confront the pain I was carrying, look at the stories, and change. I built The Brave Man Project because there was nothing like this when I needed it.
Podcast website: thebravemanproject.com
Hamish's website: hamishniven.com
YouTube: The Brave Man Project
LinkedIn: Hamish Niven
TikTok: @hamish.niven
Instagram: @hamishniven
Personal Facebook: Hamish Niven
