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LEWISTOWN -- As a professional wrestler, Matt "TRK" Silks gets kicked and punched in the face a lot.
Nothing packed a wallop like the painkillers he got hooked on. The 33-year-old Lewistown man has certainly experienced more than his share of aches and pains in his line of work.
While some of the wrestling action is scripted, that's not always the case with the injuries. Over his wrestling career, Silks has suffered seven broken bones, four muscle tears in his shoulders, broken ribs and tailbone and skull and neck injuries. He started taking prescribed pain medication for the back injury.
Trouble is when it was time to stop; Silks simply couldn't. He is not the first to become an addict this way and will likely not be the last. But there is a road to recovery.
That was the message he delivered to those attending the Dream Center's Overdose Awareness event at Lewistown's Rec Park earlier this month.
"I was selling houses out around here, and to have that all go away, the stress and stuff got to me," he told the crowd of the rise and fall of his wrestling career. "Of course, it made doing all those things - taking medication that I probably didn't need, lying to my wife and doing everything I could do to hide it from everybody."
He also hopes the Dream Center, located in the old Burnham Hardware building at 204 First Ave., can help those struggling with addiction, hunger, trauma and financial instability find answers.
At one point in time, Silks had it all. And - just like that - it was gone. He's spent the last seven years rebuilding his life.
"It's not easy," Silks said. "It's very, very easy to overshadow this whole thing and make drugs and alcohol sound so fabulous, like it's a great thing. I'll tell you right now, it's not."
Despite the lumps and bumps he suffers in the wrestling ring, "I don't take painkillers anymore," Silks explained. "I'm seven years free of all that stuff. I don't drink. I don't do any of that stuff anymore.
"Instead, I do my best to surround myself with younger people that have the same dreams and admirations that I did as a young man," he added.
He focuses on his work, his friends and family. They are the things that matter most - not getting high or wasted.
Standing on the stage and being asked to be the featured speaker at the event meant a lot to Silks. He's an entertainer by trade, but this performance came with a personal message. If one person could be saved from tragedy, it was well worth the time.
"Raising awareness is what it's about to me," Silks said. "It got me to stand up and do things like this. At one time, I didn't want to speak about drugs."
There were other consequences of using drugs. They rotted his teeth out, which made it virtually impossible to talk to people as Silks couldn't smile.
He also persevered through the death of a close friend, Chip Jabs, who passed away during the pandemic. The two men recorded music and traveled together. The most rewarding part of that friendship was Jabs helping Silks finally get clean.
These days, life couldn't be better for Silks. He and wife, Trista, have two beautiful children. Silks runs the successful Mifflin County Wrestling Academy.
"I will never truly understand anything about this life," Silks said. "Before I go out to the ring, I ask Jesus to 'keep me safe.' I don't want to go back to that lifestyle I had before,
"I never judge anybody," he added. "It's all about getting better and being healthy."