I survived 11 years of hell!
Published:Sunday | February 19, 2012 | 12:00 AM
Anastasia Cunningham, News Coordinator
Eleven years of hell, torment and unbelievable horror! That's Clive Hunt's story. One of Jamaica's most-celebrated music icons, whose tremendous talent and success took him to the pinnacle of the world, but who was reduced to sleeping on the streets of New York, United States, as a dirty, craggy, foul-smelling bum strung out on cocaine.
Name the internationally acclaimed work of practically any famous Jamaican entertainer and Hunt would probably be listed as the producer or the musician.
Little did he imagine that a 'demon' was out there waiting, so irresistibly, to take it all away. In fact, he never knew what hit him until it was too late.
Hunt, who from age 12 was addicted to music as the 'drug' of choice and credited as one of the most dedicated persons in the business, had now substituted music for cocaine.
Record producer and musician Clive Hunt who abused cocaine for over a decade before coming up clean shares his story with The Sunday Gleaner.
"I was a very straight guy and used to say I would never even work with anyone who did drugs," shared Hunt.
But one fateful day in 1980, in New York city, changed that.
He was working in studio all day with a fellow famous celebrity, who had 'disappeared' after a while. Later that evening, Hunt stormed to the friend's home in anger to find out what had happened to him. He walked in to see a roomful of other well-known artistes and musicians all gleefully partying and getting high on cocaine.
"Someone suggested I try it to join the fun and my remark was 'Nothing can mek me behave like unuh.' I tried it and hated it, it was horrible. The smell, taste, everything. I gave them back, cursed and left," he recalled.
"Later, I went by a female friend's home and told her what happened. She said I didn't try it the right way, so she showed me how. From that night, I went from the skyscraper to below the basement."
Hunt described those 11 years like being locked in a nightmare, falling through an endless abyss of black nothingness.
He begged for death so many times, smoking more coke than any human should ever ingest. But death refused to come calling, and he was too cowardly to take his own life.
"I had gotten to the lowest point. There was no lower. I looked and smelled no different from the mad man on the street. I was roaming the streets of New York sleeping anywhere, doing anything for a high. I cared about nothing but cocaine," he disclosed.
Family and friends begged him to get help, even tried to force him, but he remained true to his 'best friend'.
Hunt eventually lost everything, along with his wife, daughter, family, friends and fortune.
After being deported from the United States on drug-related charges in 1987, the streets of Jamaica became his new haunt.
Road to recovery
Singer Beres Hammond was one of the very few who didn't turn their back on him, always offering him somewhere to sleep, accompanied by a good meal.
"That's why many were saying he was doing drugs, but he never touched the stuff. He was just a really good friend and wanted me to get help," he said.
Hunt was finally overcome with extreme self-loathing.
"I really hated myself, so much. How I smelled, how I looked, what I was doing to myself, living on the streets, remembering all that success, fame and fortune I had. I actually found out one night on the streets what a cockroach actually smells like when one crawled between my lip and nose," he said.
"I wanted to be saved, I wanted to stop. I knew I just couldn't continue like this anymore. It had to end."
In 1991, Hunt checked himself into rehab at Patricia House (Richmond Fellowship Jamaica Drug Rehab Centre) in St Andrew.
This was the beginning of a slow, painful, yet fiercely determined road to recovery.
Today, the 59-year-old is celebrating 21 years of sobriety and he has never been happier.
In fact, in 1997 the United Nations International Drug Control Programme chose Hunt, along with an actor from Hollywood, California, as two internationally famous persons to highlight their inspirational story of overcoming the addiction.
What would he tell today's celebrities, or anyone for that matter?
"Just say 'no'. There is nothing more to it than that.
Working at various music studios across Jamaica these days, Hunt is happy to see that cocaine use is not as prevalent as it once was in the entertainment industry back in the day.
"Twenty years ago, every studio you go, you would see so many persons doing crack, which has caused the demise of so many persons, some quite famous. But you don't see that now. The sad thing, though, is that now you're seeing a lot more young persons doing different types of drugs," he said.