Krissy Cagney used to be addicted to cocaine and alcohol, but after five years clean and sober, she's done a complete 180 with her life. Her goal now is to help others recovering from substance abuse, to stay on the straight and narrow with support she says she never had. 

Cagney started down a dark path of hard drugs and alcohol when she was just a freshman in high school. It only got worse as she got older, she was drinking a fifth of Jameson, every night.

She was arrested several times and went through court ordered rehab.  Cagney says, "I did AA for two years, and I did NA."

But she says none of that helped. 

After one six-day bender in Southern California, she only remembers waking up in a hospital bed. The doctor gave her a wake up call.  

Cagney says, "The doctor basically told me, if I were to continue drinking at age 24, like the way I was, I was not going to live very much longer."

The date was May 28th, 2013. Cagney says, "I quit all drugs, all alcohol and I quit smoking cigarettes on that day."

It wasn't easy, Cagney adds, "The first year of my sobriety was the loneliest year of my life."

One thing she did have, was the gym.  She had always been passionate about fitness, but never knew it would be her saving grace. "It's the only thing that had power over the substance abuse," she said. 

She opened a fitness center in Sparks called Black Iron Gym in 2015.  Now, she's helping others recover, too. 

Cagney says something like this would have helped her in her recovery, "I didn't have that guidance when I was getting sober."

She gives free memberships to those also trying to change their lives.  Krissy's goal is to help them stay sober in a safe environment, with group fitness, counseling and more.  One member, who goes by the name Sir Marvelous, joined a few months ago to quit drinking and improve himself, overall, "If you want somewhere to talk, you don't even have to be into fitness, you can just come here."

However, with dozens of members enrolled in the free program, the gym was operating at a loss. Krissy started a GoFundMe to alleviate that. She says she's overwhelmed with the show of support so far, but is still just shy of her $85,000 goal.

The money will be used toward hiring more staff, equipment, and training; but most importantly, allowing Krissy and her team to be there for those in recovery, with the simple reassurance she never had.  

You don't have to be in recovery to join the gym. In fact, paying members think of their fees more like donations to those who are changing their lives with the free 'Reps for Recovery' program.

If you'd like to help out, click on the GoFundMe, here.