Muhammad Ali called him "...the toughest guy I ever fought." And George Chuvalo, who was Canadian he...

1. Drug Rehab May Have Saved Canadian Boxing Star's Three
Sons
Muhammad Ali called him "...the toughest guy
I ever fought." And George Chuvalo, who was
Canadian heavyweight boxing champion for
21 years, is still demonstrating his toughness
at 70 years old, traveling the world to tell
parents and kids how drug addiction took the
lives of three of his sons and, indirectly, the
life of his wife. His tragic story makes it clear
that the specter of drug addiction looms over
anyone foolish enough to experiment with
addictive narcotics, and how anyone who is
addicted needs a successful drug rehab
program now, not later.
The story that George Chuvalo tells covers a
decade of serious family troubles that center
around the fatal addictions to heroin suffered
by three of his four sons, and the tragic
suicide of his wife while in the depths of grief from her loss.
Jesse, the youngest, committed suicide in 1985. Jesse had become dependent on prescribed narcotic
pain killers while in hospital for a shattered knee sustained in a motorcycle accident. After leaving
the hospital, he was offered heroin by a friend to help the pain, and his real addiction began. When
he could no longer deal emotionally with his terrible secret, he took his own life - only nine months
after his motorcycle accident. The family was devastated. They'd never known he was a heroin
addict and never had the opportunity to help him through a successful drug rehab program. Jesse
Chuvalo was 20.
During the next eight years, father George was in the biggest fight of his life, struggling to save his
second and third sons Georgie Lee and Steven. Both young men had developed narcotic addictions
independently of their kid brother Jesse, and both nearly died from repeated overdoses. Eventually
they were imprisoned for stealing narcotics from a local drugstore to feed their habits. George made
it his mission in life to save his boys from heroin, but all attempts at drug rehab for both brothers
proved futile - they would run always quit or run away to get more drugs.
Georgie Lee, just four weeks after being released from prison, was found dead of a heroin overdose
in a seedy Toronto hotel. Georgie Lee was 30. Steven, 32, was still serving time. And two days after
Georgie Lee's funeral, Chuvalo's wife Lynne committed suicide, overcome by the grief of losing first
Jesse, and now Georgie Lee.
The final blow to the family came three years later. Steven Chuvalo, only two weeks after release
from prison and apparently doing well after drug rehab, was found dead by his sister Vanessa with a

2. syringe in his arm and an unlit cigarette in his hand. He was 35 years old, survived by his then 9
year old son Jesse and 14 year old daughter Rachel.
George Chuvalo, known as the boxer who was never knocked off his feet in 93 pro fights, who went
15 rounds with Muhammad Ali, managed to stay standing one more time and formed George
Chuvalo's Fight Against Drugs, an organization dedicated to keeping young people off drugs. Now
more than a decade after the tragedies, the ex-fighter is still taking his crusade around the country
to high schools, middle schools and juvenile detention centers with his message: Stay away from
drugs and alcohol, respect your bodies, your minds and your futures. And Chuvalo's new wife Joanne
counsels addicts and parents over the phone and in person, helping when needed to get people into
and through a successful drug rehab program.
By: Rod MacTaggart
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Rod is a freelance writer that contributes articles on health. info@drugrehabreferral.com
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