On April 10th, 2018 Dr. Matthew Bruhin was honored as a recipient of San Diego’s Citizen of Courage Award for 2018. The award was presented for to Dr. Bruhin for his work in saving a man’s life from certain suicide, when he encountered a man preparing to jump off Coronado Bridge in November of 2017. The man who was saved was a military veteran, a father, and hardworking native San Diegan. During the intervention, Dr. Bruhin and his wife were able to convince the man that they had resources to help house him. Get him clean and sober, and to move forward with his life in a better way. Finally, after intense negotiation, Juan chose to put his trust in the strangers and stepped back off the ledge and onto the bridge. Dr. Bruhin, a CEO of APEX Recovery and a licensed therapist, took him to treatment where he received a scholarship for three months. He was able to be treated for his depression and drug addiction. In addition, Dr. Bruhin’s wife, the City of Coronado, and many kind anonymous strangers donated money, clothing and well wishes to Juan. After discharge from APEX, Juan received help from the VA and received housing services. He remains sober to this day and maintains the experience not only saved his life but helped him enrich the lives of others. Dr. Bruhin received the award with his family, his business partner and co-founder of APEX Recovery, Fred Bowen, and nominator Dr. Ken Druck, a bestselling author and expert in the field. The highlight of the event was during Dr. Bruhin’s acceptance speech when he openly stated that the true man of courage was Juan, for trusting strangers to help him in the darkest of moments. The packed crowd then gave Juan a standing ovation for over two minutes. The story is nothing short of a miracle.
Dr. Matthew Bruhin Honored with Citizen of Courage Award
