Alcohol, Guns, Demons & Faith | Biz Nico’s Recovery StoryAlcohol, Guns, Demons & Faith | Biz Nico’s Recovery Story
Hard Knox Talks: Sober Stories. Real Talk.
Biz Nico shares how alcohol, guns and a near-fatal fall turned into a renewed faith journey and a commitment to serve people on Saskatoon’s streets. His story moves from family breakdown and spiritual experiences to practical, nightly support for those living outside.
50:29•11 Sept 2026
From Guns and Near-Death Falls to Faith and a Street Ministry Bus
Episode Overview
- Alcohol began as casual drinking with friends and grew into a destructive addiction after family breakdown and homelessness.
- Biz describes years around guns and gangsters, bringing dangerous behaviour into his home while his wife repeatedly stayed with him.
- A faith experience left him suddenly repulsed by alcohol and cigarettes, and he started praying over his house after vivid spiritual events.
- A severe relapse led to a third-floor balcony fall, multiple broken bones, liver damage and a stark warning that continued drinking could be fatal.
- After his father’s death and renewed commitment to Jesus, Biz shifted his focus to street outreach, using a bus to keep people warm and fed at night.
“My liver, I started turning yellow, puking blood, passing blood, but I didn't care. I just kept drinking anyway.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This episode follows Biz Nico, a Saskatoon-born pastor’s kid turned alcoholic, gun-toting hustler, and eventually street minister, sharing a story that swings from bloodied hospital beds to late-night soup runs on a converted school bus. You’ll hear how alcohol crept in during alleyway drinks with school friends and exploded after his parents’ painful divorce and his own spells of homelessness in a backyard shed.
Biz talks openly about years spent around drugs, guns and gangsters, and the chaos he brought into his family home while his wife stood by him "like a hundred times" despite betrayal and danger. Faith is a central thread. Biz recalls asking God to "use me in a way that you want me to be used" and waking up the next day repulsed by alcohol and cigarettes.
He describes vivid spiritual experiences, including seeing a burnt, yellow-eyed being in his son’s bedroom, which pushed him to pray over his home and steer clear of anything he sees as witchcraft. Relapse hits hard: nine months of drinking lead to a third-floor balcony fall that shattered his ribs and nearly killed him, alongside liver damage so severe he was "puking blood, passing blood" yet still drinking.
After that, and the loss of his dad to COVID, Biz says those prayers finally grabbed his attention and pulled him back to faith and recovery groups. Now he focuses on serving people living on Saskatoon’s streets, running a bus that offers warmth, soup, bannock, clothes and conversation to those out in freezing nights.
He sums up his daily approach simply: "Every day, I have to die to myself and live for him." If you’re curious how someone goes from pointing guns at party guests to handing out soup on a bus, this story might leave you asking what change could look like in your own life.
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