By Catherine Sanchez
Publications Officer
Hope is a powerful thing. It can carry a person through life’s darkest seasons, help them find purpose amidst pain and give them the courage to keep moving forward when the road ahead seems uncertain.
For Mr Sam Bramman, hope has shaped a journey that has taken him from addiction and recovery to advocacy and awareness. Come 23 June, this former student, valued staff member and founder of the No2Nangs campaign will set out on an ambitious 350km run from Kellyville to Canberra. The physical challenge is significant, but for Mr Bramman, this journey represents far more than endurance.
“This run means everything to me. It’s not just physical, it’s personal,” Mr Bramman emphatically stated. “I’m literally running from where my life turned upside down, to the place where change can actually happen, Parliament. It represents leaving that old life behind and turning pain into purpose.”
Sadly, after graduating from William Clarke College, Mr Bramman found himself caught in a life-threatening nitrous oxide addiction that quickly escalated and ultimately led to an involuntary psychiatric hospital admission. What followed was a long and difficult recovery, including a year largely confined to home as he worked to rebuild his health and his life.
Through it all, his family never gave up on him. When his addiction reached crisis point, his parents flew to Queensland to be by his side and support him through his hospitalisation, essentially saving his life according to Mr Bramman. Back home, they continued to encourage him through the long months of recovery that followed.
“I remember mum would write or print out quotes every day and leave them on the kitchen bench during my recovery,” he recalls. “For six months I wouldn’t even read the words, I would just stare at the page with no motivation to read a few lines. After a while, I started reading them and digesting the quotes.”
Mr Bramman’s story is one marked by struggle, but it is ultimately a story of hope. It is a story of second chances, of God’s grace meeting him in a season when he could see no clear way forward and of gradually realising that God’s plans for his life were far greater than he could have imagined.
Having drifted away from God during his teenage years and after graduating from school, Mr Bramman found himself rediscovering his Christian faith during his recovery. “I considered myself Christian throughout school,” he recalled. “I went to Youth Group early in high school but by Year 10 I had drifted away from God. I stopped thinking or talking about faith: I completely threw it out the window. However, during my recovery I found God, and I can say without His grace and love for me, I would not be here today. Praying a lot at night for guidance was key. These prayers were answered and gave me direction I lacked previously.”
While recovery required determination and perseverance, Mr Bramman is quick to acknowledge he did not walk this road alone. “I hope my story shows people you don’t have to hit rock bottom to change and you don’t have to do it alone,” he said. “For me, real change came when I stopped trying to carry everything myself and leaned on faith, my family and the people around me. That’s what pulled me out. If someone’s going through it, I want them to know there’s support there, even if it doesn’t feel like it. Speak up, lean in and don’t isolate yourself. And with faith, it’s simple – come as you are. You don’t need to have it all together first.”
One of the places where that renewed faith continued to grow was on his return to William Clarke College. “I felt God’s presence when I got the job as a Maintenance man at the College. Being surrounded by the team every day exposed me to real, lived-out Christianity, not just words. It challenged me, grounded me and helped me start seeing my life through a different lens.”
As his health improved and his faith deepened, so too did his sense of purpose. During the many months spent rebuilding his life, Mr Bramman began thinking about how he could use his experiences to help others avoid the same mistakes. The result was No2Nangs, an initiative dedicated to raising awareness about the dangers of nitrous oxide abuse and advocating for stronger regulation.
Often perceived as harmless because it is cheap, legal and readily available, nitrous oxide (commonly known as nangs) can have devastating consequences when abused. Unfortunately, nangs “are easy to access at tobacconists and online rapid delivery sites that profit off the consumption of the users. There are evil companies knowingly selling this poison to young people to abuse”, he stated, with dangers including seizures, psychosis, paralysis, spinal degeneration, incontinence, blood clots and even brain damage.
While Mr Bramman’s story has reached audiences through television, radio and print media, some of his most meaningful conversations have taken place much closer to home. Earlier this term, he shared his journey with students in Years 9-12 during their Year Group meetings, speaking candidly about the consequences of addiction, the importance of making wise choices and the dangers that are so often underestimated. Above all, he challenged students to consider how the decisions they make today can shape their future.
The conversations Mr Bramman is having with young people are just one part of a much broader mission. As No2Nangs has continued to grow, he has also seen God’s hand at work in ways he never expected. “I felt God’s strength in the way my initiative came to life. Doors started opening that I couldn’t have forced on my own, and I found the courage and clarity to keep pushing forward. It felt like I was being guided to use my story for something bigger than myself, to make an impact across Australia.”
Mr Bramman’s initiative is certainly creating momentum. “I had a meeting with the NSW Health Minister and they are fast tracking the nitrous law reform to this year,” he stated. I am also going to be the face ambassador of the reform on NSW Health’s social media platform – and I haven’t even done the run yet!”
Looking ahead, the upcoming run to Canberra represents the next chapter in that mission. “I’m so excited to see how this ultra run ends up, how many people I can help and how many people I can prevent going down a rough path,” he said. “I am so passionate about helping others. If my story and this run can make even one person think twice or make a safer choice, then it’s worth it.”
While his focus is firmly on helping others, the journey has also transformed his own life. Today, the peace he speaks about is not found in achieving recognition or attention, but in the purpose he has discovered through sobriety and faith. “I’ve felt God’s peace most clearly in my sobriety. After everything I went through, there’s now a calmness and stability in my life that I never had before. It’s not that everything is perfect, but there’s a deep sense of assurance that I’m on the right path.”
As Mr Bramman prepares to take on this enormous challenge of running from Kellyville to Canberra, he carries with him more than a personal goal. He carries a message for young people, families and communities that choices matter, help is available and hope is never out of reach. His journey stands as a powerful reminder about putting your trust in God and how no life is beyond His grace, regardless of the choices that may have led us astray.
At William Clarke College, we are honoured to support Mr Bramman and the important work of No2Nangs as he continues using his story to educate, advocate and help others. To support his campaign, head down to Centenary of Anzac Reserve, Kellyville on Tuesday 23 June at 6:00am to cheer him on as he begins this extraordinary journey. On the morning, you can run the first few kilometres with Mr Bramman, grab some protein bars, or pick up some shaker bottles and supplement samples available at the starting line. The greater the turnout on the morning, the greater the impact this important campaign can have. In the meantime, you can also log on to No 2 Nangs to find out more about Mr Bramman’s mission to protect young people and drive meaningful change around nitrous oxide regulation in NSW.
