Series: Wasted Youth (Day 2 -- 3 Of 4)

HEROIN ADDICT REBUILDING LIVES AFTER ALMOST DESTROYING HIS OWN

Nick Saba had led his family into the pit of addiction -- but he
would also help carry them out.

He began his journey back the night he was shot.

This time, he was the target of another armed addict, who intended to
rob him in Brockton.

Nick tried to grab the .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol, but his
attacker fired -- Nick fell to the ground as the man fled.

"It went 'POW,' and it was the loudest noise I ever heard," he said.
"I jumped to the ground. I said, 'I'm hit. I'm shot.'"

The bullet had grazed his side, leaving a hole in two shirts.

But the brush with mortality awakened Nick, who had failed at most of
his rehab attempts.

The boy who had once courted death decided he wanted to live.

It would be just a few more months of running the streets before he
would be reborn -- inside a jail cell.

Failing a drug test while on probation, Nick was sent to the Plymouth
County House of Correction in summer 2005. It would be his sixth time
in jail, but the last time he would use drugs.

He walked out Aug. 31, 2005, into a life of helping others. First, it
was his family.

Then, it was anybody he could.

Nick didn't move home. His parents had different plans for him -- he
would live in a small Middleboro house just off Route 28 that his
father had converted into a sober house.

Bill Saba put his son in charge.

Growing stronger each day off drugs, Nick thrived doing what he had
always done best -- lead and motivate others.

Soon, addicts from throughout the region -- both active and
recovering -- began calling the person who beat heroin.

"I talk to Nick every day," said Brockton's Pat Stack, 19, a
recovering user who moved into the home. "I had nothing. He got me a
job, got me to meetings. He just kept grabbing me and taking me to
meetings. ... I'll be calling him the rest of my life."

The simple ranch-style home -- with its bare walls, sparse decoration
and big screen TV -- is usually at capacity.

There are no parties, no girls -- just curfews, calmness, and the
occasional poker game.

Nick leads his housemates through nightly counseling sessions,
periodic drug testing, and along with his father takes them to boxing
matches, stage productions, baseball and hockey games.

A year ago, Nick was flown to Washington to share his story of
addiction and redemption with a congressional panel studying the problem.

"Unbelievable -- me speaking in Washington," he said. "I trashed
D.A.R.E., and everybody cracked up."

He smokes now, lives on Red Bull and Burger King food, and is
training to become a barber.

The former sports star has also found his way back into athletics,
coaching a softball team of recovering addicts.

"I try to help somebody every day, if I can," said Nick, "and I try
not to expect a thank you. I'm doing it for me, not for them. After
all, that's what people do in life. We help each other."