LAURINBURG — Benny Dimery said he hung out with the wrong crowd while in high school. He abused drugs to fit in, drank alcohol, and got to the point where he said it was getting out of hand.
In 2014, Dimery was involved in a fatal accident and was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. He spent a year and three months in prison. But after four years of sobering up, Dimery said he’s turned his life around for the better.
“I got clean in jail and (religion) kept me alive and gave me a purpose,” he attested. “Your past doesn’t define where you are or where you are going.”
In 2016, Dimery began taking classes at Richmond Community College where he graduated last spring from the Human Services Technology program. He currently works on the psychiatric ward and detox center at Southeastern Health in Lumberton and runs a peer support group to share his experiences with others. He’s also a youth pastor at Huckabee Grove Holiness Church.
“If I haven’t been through something, I can’t help you,” he said. “I hope they take a nugget from my story and apply it to their own because what works for me might not work for them.”
Cheering Dimery on has been his grandfather, Richard Campbell. Dimery said Campbell has played a large role in his life.
“I’ve always looked up to him,” he noted.
Campbell said Dimery is his first grandson and that they’re really close. He remembers going fishing with Dimery when he was young as well as doing other activities together.
As Dimery has gotten older and grown from his past, Campbell is amazed by the changes he’s made in his life.
“We are really proud of him for what he’s done and what he’s doing,” he said. “It’s a blessing. He’s been through a tough time.”
Campbell is also proud of Dimery’s CD titled “There is Hope.” Dimery wrote one of the songs, “Hope in a Savior”, while Campbell was battling cancer. Dimery feels that the song helped during his grandfather’s recovery.
“The Lord gave me the words and I was able to record it,” asserted Dimery. “During a dark time in my life, I was able to find hope.”
But Dimery’s biggest cheerleader comes in the form of his 8-year-old daughter Lacey. Campbell said he can see the love Dimery has for her and the love Lacey has for her dad.
“She’s been my drive and my focus … without her, I don’t know if I could have made it,” he said. “God placed her in my life. I felt that other people didn’t need me around and she makes me feel wanted. She doesn’t remember the bad, she remembers the good.”
Dimery will begin taking more RCC classes in January to earn more credentials in social work. He hopes to continue helping others who have gone down the path he was once traveled.
“I want to let them know that if I can make it, so can they,” he said.