Jimmy Woods pictured here with his girlfriend, Dominika Jaworczykowska, has been working for the past four years to support and employ those struggling with alcohol and drug addiction.

CRANBERRY TWP — You never know when getting hit by a car could be the best day of your life.

That’s what Jimmy Woods says about a night in 2013 when a car struck him as he rode his motorcycle, under the influence, away from Memorial Park Church in Allison Park where he had slept.

“It was dark out, and I could’ve died, should’ve died there,” he said, pulling out an engraved money clip. “My girlfriend gave me this; it says ‘blessed’ and it says ‘1/6/13.’ That was the day I got run down by the car. Best day of my life.”

Woods, 52, had spent the three decades prior struggling with an intense addiction to drugs and alcohol, an addiction he says took two near-fatal car crashes and an intense spiritual experience to overcome.

Today he works with people struggling with addiction and their families.

For his work, the Cranberry Township board of supervisors gave him a “Comeback Award” at their Sept. 27 meeting.

“The award recognized Woods’ work educating the community on ways we can help end the cycle of addiction,” information from the township states. “Jimmy was also recognized for creating a successful business staffed entirely with individuals recovering from addiction.”

He opened that business, a restaurant called Mission Mahi, in Cranberry Township four years ago.

Read more about Woods in Monday’s Butler Eagle.