Famed Wrestler Heads Back To LI To Inspire Students, Save Lives

LONG ISLAND, NY — Marc Mero once delighted audiences in the ring: A professional wrestler known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation, and with World Championship Wrestling under the moniker Johnny B. Badd, he captivated crowds for years.

But it is in his new incarnation as a motivational speaker that Mero is changing the lives of countless students across the country — and in many cases, literally saving young people from the dangers of drug abuse and the possibility of suicide.

Mero — who once traveled the world with the World Wrestling Federation, meeting presidents, superstars and other internationally famous athletes, facing off with The Rock and Hulk Hogan in the ring — is now is facing off in the greatest fight of his life. The battle to stamp out bullying and teen suicide, school violence and depression.

This week, Mero is headed back to the North Fork, where he also spoke in 2019; the events, held at area high schools, are hosted and funded completely by Kait's Angels.

Mero will make stops on his "Choices" tour for student assemblies at Greenport High School on Wednesday, Sept. 27, and at Southold High School and Mattituck High School on Thursday, Sept. 28.

Mero will also speak at a free community event, open to all, which will be held Thursday night at Southold Jr. / Sr. High School, located at 420 Oaklawn Avenue, at 7 p.m.

The event will help students and their parents —and concerned community members —engage in dialogue on issues that kids are struggling with, including teen suicide, depression, bullying and substance abuse.

Mero will also be speaking at West Babylon Senior High School on Tuesday.

Speaking to crowd after crowd of rapt students, Mero opens his heart, shares the story of his agonizingly painful memories of losing everything, even beloved family members, after he spiraled from the heights of dizzying international success into the grips of drug addiction and despair.

When he speaks, kids listen, because his story is raw and honest, about losing everything he cared about — but never giving up.

That dark time taught him invaluable life lessons, Mero said: All the money, fame and success in the world meant nothing compared to the joy he feels now in helping to save the lives of students he reaches with his life-altering presentations, he said.

Speaking with young people who are in the throes of despair, not knowing if they can go on, has changed Mero's life irrevocably. He receives message and message, letter after letter, text after text, from students and their families, about the difference he's made and the lives he's saved, he said.

"Behind every text and every message there are real people with real feelings," Mero said. "People that give love and need love. You never know what hardship or pain a student is enduring. Before you’re about to send out a mean-spirited text or post cruel words, stop and think back when you were hurting. How nice it would have been or was to receive kindness and compassion. Let’s become the solution and not the problem," he said.

His life has changed completely with his new path, one that includes criss-crossing the country with a resounding message of hope.

"My mission is to help students make positive choices and open up about adversity, depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts or bullying they may be experiencing," he said. "When you hold your pain inside, it gets worse. It’s like a volcano and sooner or later that volcano erupts. Harmful behaviors that are the result of being bullied or abused can result in explosive outcomes like self-harming, suicide and even school violence. The mental health of our young people needs to be a priority! If you are a parent, sit down and have conversations with your children. If you are a young person struggling with something, talk to your parents or a school counselor. It’s okay to need help. You’re not alone and you matter."

2023 marks 17 years that Mero has shared his message with young people.

"I wish I could say that it was getting so much better, but with everything changing so rapidly, students are expressing anxiety and suicidal thoughts," Mero told Patch. "Here’s the bottom line: The blessing is that we get kids to open up."

After each presentation, Mero greets students, many of whom sob in his arms. And after each talk, there are the letters and emails, scores of missives, sending thanks and also, painting bleak portraits of lives marked by loneliness and pain.

At one high school, there was a student who told Mero that they were suicidal; after the presentation, he sent a message to the school's counselor, apprising her of the situation. "She wrote back and said, 'That's my son,'" he said. "She was the counselor at school and she didn't know. Kids are holding these things inside."

Mero credits the Doorhys for turning the tragedy of losing their daughter into a mission of hope for others who are struggling. Still, he empathizes with their pain. "You get through it, but you never get over it," he said.

The message is so powerful that students who hear the presentation bring their parents back at night for the community discussions — and also, return again, the next time he appears at their school.

At one school, which he was visiting again, the students were cheering. "As soon as I walked out, it was like I was a rock star; I was really touched," he said.

The stories he tells resonate with truth, Mero said, about parents who've lost their sons and daughters to suicide, young people bullied so badly that they see no way past the pain. But after hearing his story, so many write to him, telling him he's given them hope. And Mero does his best to answer as many letters as he can.

When he started touring, Mero was 47 years old. "I told my wife at the time, 'I can probably do this for three years, tops. Who wants to listen to a guy over 50?'" he said. "Well, I'm connecting with the kids now more than ever, and I'm 63."

Mero answers letters for three to four hours every night, letters filled with "agony and pain," he said. He appears at 230 events per year. "This is what I do, 10 months of the year," he said. "It's non-stop living out of hotels."

And he wouldn't have it any other way.

"In life, you grow up thinking money and fame make you happy, that the joy you get out of life is a nice home and car," he said. "Who cares? What I care about is the difference you make in someone's life. That's where you find fulfillment — the look in their eyes, that's what changed my life. The kids, the letters, those who've grown up and started their own businesse and tell me, 'The day you came to make a presentation at my school, changed my life.' You just can't believe the difference you made in that kid's life."

Kids today need a message of hope more than ever; the months of isolation during the pandemic have taken a toll, Mero said.

And, he said, today's technology also leaves a mark. "I don't think we really see the full impact of what's going on," Mero said. "The smart phone has outsmarted us. It's destroying families. Kids are scrolling through social media instead of having dinner with their families. Taking for granted the things we should appreciate."

Mero speaks of his own mother, who died while he was on tour. "My mother's greatest gift to me was introducing me to God," he said. "I realize now, that the person my mother was always praying for me to be, was the person I eventually became."

If he could speak to her again, Mero said, he'd say: "Mom, thank you. You were the greatest mother. I only wish I could be half as good as you, you were such a good person."

His mother, Mero said, worked tirelessly to provide for him and his siblings, doing so much with so little. She'd take them to yard sales, and he and his siblings were so embarrassed, so ashamed — something he's sorry for today.

When Mero speaks to the students, his messages resonate because he, too, has known great loss. He lost his mother when she was 58 and both a brother and a sister, when they were each 21 years old. His father died in his arms.

"Through our struggles, we find our strength," Mero sai. "I never realized then that my current trials would become my future testimony."

At each presentation, he has to relive the pain of the losses he endured; his audiences often leave weeping at the truths he's shared.

And, too, in this honesty, Mero conveys hope.

"There are so many beautiful messages," Mero said. One letter was from a mother who said he saved her daughter's life nine years ago. A straight A student and athlete, she battled mental health issues and hid her pain too well. Today, she's 21 and thriving, and her mom had only gratitude for Mero. "When you get a letter from a mother like that, it's so beautiful," he said.

Most important, Mero said, is that he wants young people to keep going. If he'd died of an overdose during his dark says, he'd never have seen the beauty of his life unfold. "I thank God every day," he said. "I never would have done all the things I have now, if I'd ended it back then." To the students, he has a message: "Don't you ever give up. You're a rock star. A super star. You're going to make it — believe it."

Kait's Angels, a not-for-profit organization, was organized with a mission of doing good work in honor of Kaitlyn Doorhy, from Mattituck, who died tragically at 20 after being struck by a car while away at college.

And Kait's Angels believes in Mero's mission to help young people. Joe Doorhy explained why Kait's Angels felt it was critical to bring Mero back to the North Fork. He said it was rewarding to see kids go home and tell their parents they wanted them to attend the community meeting.

"Last time we had him come, we learned there were several kids in our community contemplating suicide," Doorhy said. "They, after seeing his presentation, they actually reached out to him and told him that after seeing him and hearing his story, they'd completely changed their minds."

Mero's message is important for young people to share with their families, so his messages of hope can be reinforced at home, Doorhy said. He encouraged not just parents, but all elected officials present and future to attend.

"They need to get an idea of what's going on inside these kids' heads," Doorhy said.

As for Mero, he has no plans to stop sharing his powerful words of hope anytime soon. "I'll keep going as long as I can — as long as they'll have me," he said.