Jekyll, Hyde, and the Stroke That Changed Everything: Ben Sautter’s Story

Jekyll, Hyde, and the Stroke That Changed Everything: Ben Sautter’s Story

How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This conversation with stroke survivor and former drug trafficker Ben Sautter shows that sometimes change arrives in the most unexpected way – through a medical crisis that cracks open an old life. Ben, from Montana, had an ischaemic stroke in 2017 caused by a carotid artery blockage.

Physically, he describes his leg as feeling like it was "stuck in a light socket" and struggled with heaviness and fatigue, even as he pushed himself back into work, hunting and everyday life. Yet he says the stroke itself wasn’t the biggest story. The real shift came in his brain and behaviour.

For decades, Ben lived what he and his wife now call a Jekyll-and-Hyde existence: respected city superintendent and family man on one side, risk-taking lawbreaker on the other, including a stint in prison for drug trafficking. He admits he used to feel "no shame, no remorse" and operated on just three emotions: "happy, sad and angry". After the stroke, counselling, PTSD-style exercises and a feelings wheel slowly expanded that emotional palette.

Ben began to question the man he’d been: "I feel like two different people." Writing his memoir, *Mr. Hyde and Me*, in a whirlwind 10 weeks finally helped him see the split clearly and gave his wife language for what she’d been living with. You’ll hear him talk frankly about marital breakdown and reconciliation, the sting of being called out on his behaviour, and learning to listen "to hear rather than to respond".

He jokes that he might now be "a fairly boring guy", but he’s also calmer, more present and no longer chasing danger or alcohol. If you’ve ever wondered whether deep change is possible after years of destructive habits, Ben’s story might prompt you to ask: who is the person you were, and who are you becoming?