Rescue diver, public speaker Arrington speaks to Henderson County students, church groups Sept. 26-30

From Park Ridge Health:

Stephen Arrington, Co-Defendant in the John DeLorean Drug Case, AKA, “The Drug Trial of the Century” Speaking to local Henderson County Middle Grade Students and Churches

Hendersonville, NC (September 26, 2017) – Park Ridge Health is hosting Stephen Arrington this week as he speaks to a variety of Henderson County middle school students and various church groups. Arrington, a talented storyteller and an expert on leadership, team building and critical youth topics including bullying, suicide, drug abuse, crime and gang education has done 5,000+ high-power programs that are life changing. He has produced gold medal winning documentaries and is an award-winning author who has written seven books.

Arrington is sharing stories of personal experiences that encourage children to follow their dreams while making the right choices to keep them on the right path. He will be speaking at Flat Rock Middle School, Rugby Middle School, Hendersonville Middle School, Apple Valley Middle School, Fletcher Academy, Boys & Girls Club and several church groups. The public is invited to hear Arrington’s life changing stories at First Contact Ministries at Mud Creek Baptist Church on Tuesday, September 26 at 6:30 p.m. and at Fletcher Adventist Church on Saturday, September 30 at 2:30 p.m.

An ex-Navy bomb disposal frogman, Arrington fell from the ranks of heroes when he made a marijuana mistake, which led to his becoming a co-defendant in the John DeLorean Drug Case, AKA “The Drug Trial of the Century.” Determined to turn his life around, Arrington became chief engineer of an inmate fire company and led them to save the crew of a B-1A supersonic bomber that crashed by the desert prison camp. After prison, he achieved his childhood dream when he was hired as a chief diver/expedition leader for Captain Jacques Cousteau.

At his programs, he uses his underwater adventures with humpback whales, bottlenose dolphins and great white sharks to capture the audience’s attention then he weaves in true stories about FBI/DEA agents, Colombian hitmen and smugglers to teach about life’s tougher choices.

For leadership and team building programs, Arrington draws upon his vast and varied experience as the chief of Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team 11. When he left the Navy under a cloud of shame he never thought he would be called chief again. Yet, in prison, he became chief engineer of a ragtag group of inmates and honed them into an effective emergency response team that he led out of Boron Prison Camp 17 times to save lives.

When he got out of prison the only thing he thought he would be chief of was a mop, a bucket and a broom at a convenience store. Three days out of prison, Arrington was hired by the College of Oceaneering, where he soon became the air diving supervisor and school medic. When a student was trapped underwater for over eight minutes without air, Arrington led the rescue and initiated CPR. Amazingly, the student later recovered. For this, Arrington was given a lifesaving award by the Los Angeles Fire Department and the Red Cross’ highest award for lifesaving signed by President Ronald Reagan. A year later, Arrington became chief diver and expedition leader for the Cousteau Society. He spent the next five years on an underwater odyssey of adventure.

Arrington has worked with a diversity of audiences, from elementary schools to universities, from private prestigious academies to youth lockups and prisons, for teacher conventions, corporations and for youth organizations with audiences of up to 10,000. On January 17, 2017, Arrington was awarded a full and unconditional pardon by President Barrack Obama for his work with youth with live audiences that now exceed 830,000 people.

“In DeLorean’s Shadow,” his new true-crime memoir is available at drugsbite.com. Email drugsbite@gmail.com. Twitter @DrugsBite, Facebook.com/DrugsBite. He can be reached at 530-872-4884.