MEET MICHAEL BUGARY
Michael Bugary grew up in Monterey, California. At the age of 12, Michael knew his dream was to be a professional baseball player. In high school, he played for multiple travel teams, playing all over the country and other parts of the world, like Australia. After receiving many accolades, he was considered a top prospect as a first baseman and left-handed pitcher. Michael received multiple Division-I scholarship offers, ultimately choosing the play at the University of California, Berkeley.
Despite multiple injuries in college, Michael had a successful junior season, which ended with him being picked by the Boston Red Sox in the 15th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft. Michael then chose to skip his senior year at Berkeley and pursue his dream as a professional baseball player.
During spring training in his second professional season, Michael suffered an arm injury that would prematurely end his career. After being released by the Red Sox organization and without the ability to perform as he once did, Michael struggled with depression. He felt like he had lost his self-worth and his identity.
Unable to cope with his new reality Michael turned to opiates and other substances. Michael battled his addiction for years unwilling to accept a life without baseball. Working as a private baseball coach and personal trainer, Michael lived a double life, hiding the depths of his struggles with depression and mental illness. His addiction only worsened and in 2014, with the help of his family, Michael went to a treatment center in Phoenix, Arizona to get help. Michael managed to stay sober for a while, but in treatment he was never honest with himself and quickly fell back into some of his old habits, continuing to battle the ups and downs of addiction.
In August of 2015, Michael was diagnosed with a lacrosse ball sized Brain tumor. A medulla blastoma located in his cerebellum. He had to endure multiple brain surgeries and nearly two months of intense chemotherapy and radiation. After his treatment and being declared cancer-free, his reality had once again changed. In constant pain from the side effects of his treatment, he fell further into his depression and addiction. Hopeless and alone he was unable to take care of himself and moved back to California to live with his family. He continued to struggle, but his life suddenly began to turn around when he met his therapy dog, Lingo.
Lingo brought a positivity into Michael’s life that he desperately needed. He began to take care of himself, went back to treatment, and got medication to manage his pain. He went back to work as a personal trainer and baseball coach and slowly his circumstances were improving. Despite the positive things happing in his life, Michael was still dealing with an internal struggle, one he faced in the past while coaching and training others, not practicing what he was preaching. The strong medication he was on was a temporary fix. It was a crutch, preventing him from facing the underlying problems of his life. He felt that he only traded his drug dealers for doctors and without the medication he would be right back where he was, self-medicating his depression and physical pain.
In 2021 an opportunity presented itself, a chance to move to a tree farm and nature preserve in northeast Ohio that he inherited from his grandfather. He made the tough decision to leave his life behind and to focus on himself. When he got to Ohio, he went back to treatment to get off all the medication and seek help to manage his depression. Through rigorous exercise and meditation, he learned to manage chronic nerve pain from his treatment. Overcoming these adversities wasn’t easy, but through it all Michael has emerged as a healthier, better person. Most importantly he has learned how to love the person he is and to be comfortable as his sober, authentic self. There are many lessons to Michael’s story but at the center is the power of helping others.
Today, Michael and his therapy dog Lingo are part of the Petpals organization at Rainbow Babies and University hospitals where they regularly visit patients. Michael has found a new purpose in helping others by sharing his story. As a motivational speaker, he shares his story to a variety of audiences. Most of all, his story is one of change, a shift of perspective. How he overcame his selfishness by helping others. Michael lives on his property with his three dogs Lingo, Lexi and Max. He enjoys spending time in nature with his dogs, reading, Olympic weightlifting and continuing to learn new things. He tries to live with gratitude every day for the second chance he has been given. Not closing the door on his past but learning from it in order to do better in the future.