Justin Gehrt is a coach at Kirkland CrossFit in Kirkland, Washington.
“I’ve never seen Justin walk in here without a smile on his face,” says affiliate owner Jamie Cantu.
But that hasn’t always been the case. Gehrt grew up overweight and was bullied as a kid. By college, he had started drinking to mask his low self-esteem.
“I turned to drinking because I felt more confident and more funny,” Gehrt says. “I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s be the fat, funny, drunk guy.’”
On June 6, 2012, Gehrt crashed his car while driving drunk. He had a blood-alcohol level of .22 at the time.
Dr. Daniel Farrell, the orthopedic surgeon who tended to Gehrt’s injuries, told Gehrt his bed scale read 405 pounds. He also talked with him about nutrition and CrossFit.
“I owe my life to Dr. Farrell,” Gehrt says. “He saved me.”
Gehrt lost almost 200 pounds in four years. Today, he considers the day of the accident the best day of his life.
“I don’t want to know what my life would’ve been like had (the accident) not happened, because it’s just too good to worry about that,” he says. “It’s changed everything.”
The Day Fat Justin Died