Zach Skow's Unbelievable Battle to Evac 300 Dogs from Afghanistan | Ep. 259

About this video

Zach Skow, founder of Marley’s Mutts Rescue, recounts his battle with alcoholism and liver failure at age 28, receiving a terminal diagnosis with less than 90 days to live. He describes how childhood trauma led to severe anxiety and substance abuse starting in his teens, escalating to drinking nine bottles of wine daily by his mid-twenties. Skow shares a powerful story about discovering his grandfather’s recovery book—his grandfather died of the same disease at 41—which became a turning point in his own recovery journey and later inspired his prison dog programs.

Key takeaways

• Skow attributes his substance abuse to childhood sexual trauma involving an adult woman that caused severe anxiety around intimacy, which he self-medicated with alcohol starting in his teens
• At 28, Skow was diagnosed with end-stage liver failure and given less than 90 days to live after years of heavy drinking (up to nine bottles of wine daily) and drug use
• Skow discovered his grandfather’s AA recovery book while dying of the same disease his grandfather succumbed to at age 41, which he credits as a spiritual turning point that helped him develop a relationship with a higher power and informed his later prison reform work using Viktor Frankl’s ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’

Episode details: published September 30, 2025 · 12.1K views · 3:02:06 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Stories told by Mike Ritland’s podcast guests are the guests’ own accounts, attributed to them — not independently verified. Commentary is Ritland’s, presented as his analysis.

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