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From gridiron glory to the depths of addiction, Ryan Hall’s journey has taken him full circle, overcoming dashed football dreams and a prison stint to sit center stage with Gov. Ralph Northam, sharing his story on how he became hooked on opioids and then kicked the habit.

Hall joined Northam Wednesday at the Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine, where the governor interviewed Hall before an audience of about 200 students, staff, and faculty. For an hour the governor tapped into his past work as a doctor to discuss addiction.

The session began with Hall’s story of a devastating injury in a high school football game, where he fractured his tibia, dislocated his kneecap and tore his ACL and meniscus. Hall said he went to the hospital on a Friday night for his injury and underwent surgery that Tuesday. Hall said his addiction began in those long, agonizing nights in the hospital, where he was given Dilaudid, Percocet, and Tramadol to manage his pain as he waited for surgery.

“I was taking the prescriptions for the pain but I found that once everything was healed, I still would like to take prescriptions from time to time,” Hall told Northam.